Death at the scene and COHb level above 10% are the most useful factors in establishing smoke and soot inhalation as the cause of death. Some autopsy findings are helpful in establishing or ruling out smoke and soot inhalation as contributing to or sole cause of death, but an evaluation of the entire circumstances and autopsy findings is necessary.

The objective of this study is to evaluate the performance of OraQuick HCV Rapid Antibody Test against a “gold-standard”, FDA-approved, laboratory-based serum immunoassay (SI) in postmortem blood. To date, OraQuick HCV Rapid Antibody Test has not been evaluated for use in postmortem testing. This OraQuick test is a manually performed, visually interpreted, single use immunoassay for the qualitative detection of antibodies to the hepatitis C virus (HCV).

Blood was collected from 51 decedents whose deaths were investigated in the jurisdiction of the Knox and Anderson County Medical Examiner’s Office (MEO) January 2017 through April 2017. For each consented case, blood was tested using both the OraQuick HCV Rapid Antibody Test and a laboratory-based hepatitis C serum immunoassay (“gold standard” reference assay). Results from the OraQuick HCV Rapid Antibody Test were compared against a laboratory-based hepatitis C serum immunoassay.

Using the laboratory-based serum immunoassay (SI) as the “gold standard” for assessing true HCV antibody positivity, and comparing SI against OraQuick rapid test, sensitivity for the OraQuick rapid test was 95.65% and specificity was 96.15% in postmortem blood.

Our results demonstrate that OraQuick HCV rapid antibody test is reliable for diagnosis of hepatitis C infection in postmortem blood with a relatively short (less than approximately 21.5 hours) postmortem sample acquisition time. The OraQuick in some cases may be superior to traditional, laboratory-based HCV SI due to potential increased viscosity of postmortem blood.

Our results demonstrate that OraQuick HCV rapid antibody test is reliable for diagnosis of hepatitis C infection in postmortem blood with a relatively short (less than approximately 21.5 hours) postmortem sample acquisition time. The OraQuick in some cases may be superior to traditional, laboratory-based HCV SI due to potential increased viscosity of postmortem blood.Mucormycosis is a rare and severe invasive fungal infection caused by ubiquitous fungi of the order Mucorales. Infection often occurs in immunocompromised hosts and includes cutaneous, pulmonary, gastrointestinal, rhinocerebral, and disseminated forms of disease. Although the clinical characteristics of mucormycosis are well established, infection can be difficult to diagnose antemortem, resulting in frequent postmortem diagnoses. Despite this, the gross appearance of mucormycosis at autopsy has not been well described. In the present report we illustrate the gross and histologic findings in four autopsy cases of mucormycosis, including one case of pulmonary disease and three cases of disseminated mucormycosis with cerebral, pulmonary, hepatic, renal, and gastrointestinal involvement. In all cases autopsy examination demonstrated characteristic hemorrhagic infarcts with a targetoid appearance in the affected organs. These findings are secondary to fungal angioinvasion with subsequent thrombosis and tissue necrosis. Mucormycosis should be suspected at autopsy when these characteristic infarcts are identified within the proper clinical context, and a high suspicion for atypical infections should be maintained postmortem in immunosuppressed patients.

The aim of this study is to assess the prevalence and predictive factors for developing chronic access-site (A-S) pain after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) via radial artery access.

Data of selected patients (

 = 161) who underwent elective PCI were collected prospectively and analysed in 2020. Verbal analogue scale was used to evaluate pain intensity after 12, 24, and 48 h and 3 months after PCI. The univariate logistic regression analysis was used.

Pain prevalence decreased from 29% straight after PCI and 54% two hours later to 3.7% following 3 months after procedure. The predictors for A-S pain chronicity are diabetes (OR = 5.77 95% CI (1.07-31.08),

= 0.041), hematoma (OR = 6.48, 95% CI (1.06-39.66),

= 0.043), A-S hand neuropathy (OR = 19.93 95% CI (1.27-312.32),

= 0.033), A-S pain immediately after PCI (OR = 14.60 95% CI (1.63-130.27),

= 0.016), after 12 h (OR = 17.2 95% CI (1.60-185.27),

= 0.019), 24 h (OR = 48 95% CI (4.87-487),

= 0.01), and 48 h (OR = 23.46 95% CI (3.81-144.17),

= 0.001), and pain intensity immediately after procedure (OR = 3.30 95% CI (1.65-6.60),

= 0.001), after 2 h (OR = 2.56 95% CI (1.15-5.73),

= 0.022), after 12 h (OR = 3.02 95% CI (1.70-5.39),

< 0.001), after 24 h (OR = 3.58 95% CI (1.90-6.74),

< 0.001), and after 48 h (OR = 2.89 95% CI (1.72-4.87),

< 0.001). Pain control was performed with Ketoprofen and Ibuprofen as most used NSAIDs. 10 mg of Morphine intravenously was the choice from strong opioids if necessary.

The prevalence of chronic A-S pain is 3.7%. Main predictive factors for the A-S pain chronicity are diabetes, hematoma, and persistent pain and pain intensity during 48 h period after PCI.

The prevalence of chronic A-S pain is 3.7%. Tovorafenib order Main predictive factors for the A-S pain chronicity are diabetes, hematoma, and persistent pain and pain intensity during 48 h period after PCI.Temporomandibular joint dysfunction (TMD) is a chronic disease of various etiologies. Correct TMD diagnosis enables to apply effective treatment and significantly improves the quality of patients’ lives. One of the diagnostic methods subjected to evaluation in recent years is thermography, which enables safe, noninvasive, and quick imaging of the temperature distribution of temporomandibular joint-associated tissues. This paper, based on Medline, Dentistry & Oral Sciences Source, Academic Search Ultimate, Medline Complete databases, presents basic information related to thermovision imaging and outlines the direction of research conducted in recent years which fight with difficulties in the interpretation of thermograms that require specialized, dedicated analysis and processing of the obtained images. The problem concerns also no standardized protocol for measuring masticatory muscle temperature.