We report an unusual suicide, committed with a common pencil. A 72-year-old male inflicted himself a penetrating thoracic wound while being hospitalized for a hip prosthesis operation. Although the patient was immediately operated, the cardiac injury appeared to be fatal. Cases of suicidal penetrating wounds of the anterior chest wall are rare and they are mostly inflicted by knives, glass fragments, or other sharp instruments. The potential danger of a pencil should be taken into consideration, especially in psychiatric hospitals and imprisonment facilities. We examined the legislation in Italy and Finland concerning the regulation of privacy in special care institutions. Copyright © 2005 by ASTM International.

Grimaldi, L., De Giorgio, F., Masullo, M., Zoccai, G. B., Martinotti, G., Rainio, J. K., Suicide by pencil, <<JOURNAL OF FORENSIC SCIENCES>>, 2005; 50 (4): 913-914 [http://hdl.handle.net/10807/13135]

Suicide by pencil

Grimaldi, Leonardo;De Giorgio, Fabio;Masullo, Mara;Martinotti, Giovanni;Rainio, Juha Kaleva
2005

Abstract

We report an unusual suicide, committed with a common pencil. A 72-year-old male inflicted himself a penetrating thoracic wound while being hospitalized for a hip prosthesis operation. Although the patient was immediately operated, the cardiac injury appeared to be fatal. Cases of suicidal penetrating wounds of the anterior chest wall are rare and they are mostly inflicted by knives, glass fragments, or other sharp instruments. The potential danger of a pencil should be taken into consideration, especially in psychiatric hospitals and imprisonment facilities. We examined the legislation in Italy and Finland concerning the regulation of privacy in special care institutions. Copyright © 2005 by ASTM International.
2005
Inglese
Grimaldi, L., De Giorgio, F., Masullo, M., Zoccai, G. B., Martinotti, G., Rainio, J. K., Suicide by pencil, <<JOURNAL OF FORENSIC SCIENCES>>, 2005; 50 (4): 913-914 [http://hdl.handle.net/10807/13135]
File in questo prodotto:
Non ci sono file associati a questo prodotto.

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/10807/13135
Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? ND
  • Scopus ND
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? ND
social impact