[Malignant diseases in medicolegal practice].

INTRODUCTION

In many cases of natural death (so-called obscure natural death), medicolegal assessment and elucidation are required. Although malignant tumors may be the cause of obscure natural death, their forensic significance has not been particularly studied in our population.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of the study was to provide a general report on medicolegal importance of malignant diseases.

METHOD

Autopsy material of the Institute of Forensic Medicine, Belgrade, from 1990 to 2000, was analyzed. The data were obtained from autopsy records, investigation reports, family members of the deceased and available medical documentation.

RESULTS

The malignant tumor was the cause of death in 81 cases (0.69% out of a total of 11771 autopsies), in 52 males and 29 females, respectively. The incidence of malignant diseases increased with age. The most frequent cause of death was the lung cancer--diagnosed in 33 cases (40.7% out of 81), with somewhat higher percentage in females (41.4%) than in males (40.4%), but this difference was not statistically significant (chi2 = 0.13; p > 0.05). Other locations of malignancies were less frequently found: brain (7 cases), colon (6), stomach (5) and pancreas (4). In 67 cases, widespread tumor with metastases was identified as an immediate cause of death, in 8 cases there was a hemorrhage from eroded blood vessels, and in 6 cases peritonitis due to gastric or intestinal leakage into the abdominal cavity at the site of wall perforation. In 61.7% cases, fatal tumor was not diagnosed during the life, and was recorded more frequently in female group (75.9%) than in males (53.8%), but this difference was not statistically significant (chi2 = 2.71; p > 0.05). In most cases of lung cancer (22 or 66.7% out of 33), which was predominant type in the analyzed sample, malignancy remained unrecognized during the life.

CONCLUSION

The most important medicolegal problems regarding fatal malignant diseases are associated with exclusion of violent death in cases that are characterized as obscure (suspicious) natural death, as well as assessment of possible legal responsibility of medical staff in cases in which malignant tumor has not been diagnosed during the life.