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Fatal penetrating injuries of the chest

In the Republic of South Africa, an autopsy is required in all cases of unnatural death, or in cases where the cause of death is unknown in terms of the Inquest Act of 1959. These are performed at the Salt River Medicolegal Laboratory by Forensic Pathologists and Registrars of the Department of Fore...

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Main Author: Scholtz, Hendrik Johannes
Other Authors: De Groot, K M
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: Division of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology 2018
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access_status_str Open Access
author Scholtz, Hendrik Johannes
author2 De Groot, K M
author_browse De Groot, K M
Scholtz, Hendrik Johannes
author_facet De Groot, K M
Scholtz, Hendrik Johannes
author_sort Scholtz, Hendrik Johannes
collection Thesis
description In the Republic of South Africa, an autopsy is required in all cases of unnatural death, or in cases where the cause of death is unknown in terms of the Inquest Act of 1959. These are performed at the Salt River Medicolegal Laboratory by Forensic Pathologists and Registrars of the Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology of the University of Cape Town. The Salt River Medicolegal Laboratory serves the greater Cape Town area with a population of approximately 2,5 million, including the magisterial districts of Cape Town, Wynberg, Mitchell's Plain and Simonstown. Cape Town has one of the world's highest homicide rates and in 1986 the incidence was 56, 91 100000 population per annum. In contrast, Singapore has a homicide rate of only 2, 5/100 000, while the United States has an overall homicide rate of 7,7/ 100 000 population. In order to document the true impact of penetrating chest injuries, and to place mortality data in perspective, a retrospective descriptive study of all cases with fatal penetrating chest injuries admitted to the Salt River Medicolegal Laboratory in Cape Town during 1990 was undertaken. In 1990, a total of 5 758 cases was admitted to the Salt River Medicolegal Laboratory of which 1834 cases (39%) were the result of homicide. Of the homicide cases, 408 (22%) were the result of firearm injuries. A total of 2044 (35, 5%) cases admitted was deemed to have died of natural causes. This study identified a total of 841 cases of fatal penetrating injuries of the chest admitted during 1990, which constituted 22,6% of all non-natural cases admitted.
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institution University of Cape Town (South Africa)
language eng
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:41:12.966Z
license_str Not specified — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
publishDate 2018
publishDateRange 2018
publishDateSort 2018
publisher Division of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology
publisherStr Division of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology
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source_str UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
spelling oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/26781 Fatal penetrating injuries of the chest Scholtz, Hendrik Johannes De Groot, K M Thoracic Injuries Wounds, Penetrating Forensic medicine In the Republic of South Africa, an autopsy is required in all cases of unnatural death, or in cases where the cause of death is unknown in terms of the Inquest Act of 1959. These are performed at the Salt River Medicolegal Laboratory by Forensic Pathologists and Registrars of the Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology of the University of Cape Town. The Salt River Medicolegal Laboratory serves the greater Cape Town area with a population of approximately 2,5 million, including the magisterial districts of Cape Town, Wynberg, Mitchell's Plain and Simonstown. Cape Town has one of the world's highest homicide rates and in 1986 the incidence was 56, 91 100000 population per annum. In contrast, Singapore has a homicide rate of only 2, 5/100 000, while the United States has an overall homicide rate of 7,7/ 100 000 population. In order to document the true impact of penetrating chest injuries, and to place mortality data in perspective, a retrospective descriptive study of all cases with fatal penetrating chest injuries admitted to the Salt River Medicolegal Laboratory in Cape Town during 1990 was undertaken. In 1990, a total of 5 758 cases was admitted to the Salt River Medicolegal Laboratory of which 1834 cases (39%) were the result of homicide. Of the homicide cases, 408 (22%) were the result of firearm injuries. A total of 2044 (35, 5%) cases admitted was deemed to have died of natural causes. This study identified a total of 841 cases of fatal penetrating injuries of the chest admitted during 1990, which constituted 22,6% of all non-natural cases admitted. 2018-01-09T14:10:41Z 2018-01-09T14:10:41Z 1996 Master Thesis Masters MMed http://hdl.handle.net/11427/26781 eng application/pdf Division of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology Faculty of Health Sciences University of Cape Town
spellingShingle Thoracic Injuries
Wounds, Penetrating
Forensic medicine
Scholtz, Hendrik Johannes
Fatal penetrating injuries of the chest
thesis_degree_str Master's
title Fatal penetrating injuries of the chest
title_full Fatal penetrating injuries of the chest
title_fullStr Fatal penetrating injuries of the chest
title_full_unstemmed Fatal penetrating injuries of the chest
title_short Fatal penetrating injuries of the chest
title_sort fatal penetrating injuries of the chest
topic Thoracic Injuries
Wounds, Penetrating
Forensic medicine
url http://hdl.handle.net/11427/26781
work_keys_str_mv AT scholtzhendrikjohannes fatalpenetratinginjuriesofthechest