caa a22 4500 475787986 CHVBK 20180406123704.0 cr unu---uuuuu 170329e20000801xx s 000 0 eng 10.1007/s004149900093 doi (NATIONALLICENCE)springer-10.1007/s004149900093 Suicides by sharp force: typical and atypical features [Elektronische Daten] [B. Karger, J. Niemeyer, B. Brinkmann] A total of 65 consecutive cases of suicide by sharp force were investigated by evaluating the autopsy and prosecution department records. Suicides constituted 17% of all fatalities from sharp force autopsied between 1967 and 1996. Young males and persons with a psychiatric history predominated among the persons who chose this "hard” method of suicide. The most common implements used were knives (62%) and razor blades (15%). Cutting injuries in isolation were present in 26, stab injuries in isolation in 24 and a combination of both in 15 fatalities. The number of injuries per case varied from 1 to 37 but 1/3 showed one injury. More than 85% of the cutting injuries were located at the wrist, elbow crease or neck whereas 79% of the stab injuries involved the ventral aspect of the trunk. Perforation of clothing was present in ¶16 (52%) out of 31 stab injuries to the trunk. Injuries to more than one body region were observed in 34 (52%) cases. Tentative marks were present in 50 (77%) fatalities and the number varied from 1 to 60 per case. Superficial incisions of the fingers were found in 15% with razor blades constituting the weapon in half of these cases. Deviations from these typical patterns occurred not infrequently. The utter determination of the victim to carry it through or the use of unusual weapons resulted in a few bizarre cases which are outlined briefly. Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, 2000 Key words Incisions nationallicence Stab nationallicence Sharp force nationallicence Suicide nationallicence Injury patterns nationallicence Karger B. Institute of Legal Medicine, University of Münster, Von-Esmarch-Strasse 62, D-48149 Münster, Germany Fax: +49-251-8355158, DE aut Niemeyer J. Institute of Legal Medicine, University of Münster, Von-Esmarch-Strasse 62, D-48149 Münster, Germany Fax: +49-251-8355158, DE aut Brinkmann B. Institute of Legal Medicine, University of Münster, Von-Esmarch-Strasse 62, D-48149 Münster, Germany Fax: +49-251-8355158, DE aut https://doi.org/10.1007/s004149900093 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1007/s004149900093 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Karger B. Institute of Legal Medicine, University of Münster, Von-Esmarch-Strasse 62, D-48149 Münster, Germany Fax: +49-251-8355158, DE aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Niemeyer J. Institute of Legal Medicine, University of Münster, Von-Esmarch-Strasse 62, D-48149 Münster, Germany Fax: +49-251-8355158, DE aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Brinkmann B. Institute of Legal Medicine, University of Münster, Von-Esmarch-Strasse 62, D-48149 Münster, Germany Fax: +49-251-8355158, DE aut Metadata rights reserved Springer special CC-BY-NC licence nationallicence BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-springer