Citation

Solarino B, Grattagliano I, Catanesi R, Tsokos M. J. Forensic Leg. Med. 2012; 19(3): 171-174.

Affiliation

Section of Legal Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine and Public Medicine, University of Bari, P.zza Giulio Cesare 11, 70124 Bari, Italy.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2012, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.jflm.2011.10.004

PMID

22391005

Abstract

Fatal starvation is a rare cause of death in industrialised countries. In such cases, investigation of death is never an easy task for forensic pathologists who need to couple autopsy findings with full investigation of the crime scene and family record to establish if death results from deliberate neglect, maltreatment and withholding of food. The present article describes two cases of death caused by child neglect. The first case involved a 16-month-old female who died from starvation with dehydration as a contributing factor. In the second case a 7-year-old girl died from ultimate aspiration of stomach contents that had been vomited during the child's last meal because of the fecal concretions blocking the intestinal passage. In both cases macroscopic and histological findings revealed severe chronic malnutrition; crime scene investigations confirmed stories of child maltreatment and neglect.

Language: en