30 March 2006

Paper I (3 hours)

Answer all of the following questions. Each question to be answered in a separate book (or books if more than one is required for the one answer)

a) b)

Give the medical definition of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). (4) Briefly discuss the role and legal responsibilities of the medical practitioner in cases of suspected Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). (9) [15]

a) b)

c)

List and very briefly discuss the differential diagnosis in a person arrested for what appears to be drunken driving. (6) Write short notes on the taking of blood samples for alcohol concentration determinations in clinical settings, with specific reference to the legal requirements in South Africa. (6) What are the constituents of the white powder found in the alcohol sample bottles and what are their functions? (3) [15]

Write short notes on the following a) b) The role of radiology in medico-legal practice. The role of odontology in medico-legal practice. (8) (7) [15]

You are asked to examine a prisoner, who alleges that he is being tortured by the police investigating the case against him. Briefly discuss how you would handle this case. [15] PTO/Page 2 Question 5...

-25 Briefly discuss the possible reasons for a laboratory report indicating that no spermatozoa were detected in the vaginal samples taken at the time of the clinical examination of a rape victim. [15]

A casualty officer sees and examines a child late one night in the casualty department of a hospital. This doctor suspects that the child is being physically abused. What could possibly have aroused the doctors suspicion? How should he manage this case? [25]

30 March 2006
Paper II (3 hours) Answer all of the following questions. Each question to be answered in a separate book (or books if more than one is required for the one answer)

You have been asked to perform a medicolegal post-mortem examination on an anaesthetic associated death case. a) What do you understand by the term anaesthetic associated death? (7) b) Briefly discuss your approach to such a case. (8) [15] Briefly discuss the possible mechanisms of deaths in (5) (5) (5) [15] Describe your approach to the post mortem examination of an adult male, who was found hanging from a rope around his neck in a room. State any specific autopsy techniques, evidence or samples you think might be value in investigating this case thoroughly. [15] Describe briefly the macroscopic features at autopsy in the following cases a) Electrical burn wounds. (5) b) Hypothermia deaths. (5) c) Chemical burns. (5) [15] Write short notes on a) Diffuse axonal injury. (7) b) Shotgun injuries. (8) c) Post mortem skin abrasions. (5) d) Mechanisms of death in a case of a stab wound in the abdomen. (5) [25] PTO/Page 2 Question 6 a) b) c) Electrical shock. Ligature hanging by the neck. A knife stab wound into the chest.

-2-

Tabulate the essential differences in the macroscopic appearances of a) b) c) Ante-mortem thrombo-emboli and postmortem blood clots. The lungs of a newborn baby who has breathed and one who stillborn. Subdural and epidural haematomas. (5) was (5) (5) [15]