Browsing by Author "Senanayake, T.A.A.W."

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    Deaths following drowning in Sri Lanka - a retrospective study
    (Department of Forensic Medicine, Faculty of Medicine at University of Peradeniya, 2020) Paranitharan, P.; Perera, W.N.S.; Lakmal, S.; Priyanath, D.C.; Senanayake, T.A.A.W.; Kumari, M.K.J.K.
    INTRODUCTION: Deaths following drowning are a common occurrence in Sri Lanka. Individuals drown in different circumstances like suicides, accidents and homicides. A study of this nature would be useful for prevention of such incidences and as a baseline for future studies. OBJECTIVES: With regard to victims of drowning to determine; the demographic profile, circumstances, autopsy findings and contributory factors for drowning. METHODOLOGY: Information was extracted from records of 59 drowning cases in the years 2008-2017. Data were analysed using the statistical package SPSS Version 22. RESULTS: Majority of deaths (37.3%) were within the age of 11-30 years. Twenty-six-point five percent (26.5%) of accidental deaths were within the age group 11-20 years. The circumstances were accident (57.6%), suicide (22 %) and not known whether accident or suicide (20.3%). The common places of accidental drowning were sea (20%), Tank (20%) and canal (18 %.) The well was the most common place for suicides (54%). Majority of victims were unemployed (37%) and labourers (25%). Froth in the nostrils (54.2%), Emphysematous expanded lungs (63%), rib indentation on the lungs (61%) froth in the airways (61%) and pulmonary oedema (66%) were observations which were suggestive of drowning. Environmental factors (41%) and alcohol consumption (20%) are among the possible contributory factors. CONCLUSION: Majority of the deaths are accidental. Environmental factors and alcohol consumption may play contributory roles. Awareness programmes targeting young adults will minimize accidental deaths. KEYWORDS: Circumstances, Contributory factors, Deaths, Drowning
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    Study on heart measurements of the people between the age 20-40 years present to the teaching hospital colombo north – post mortem study
    (Dept. of Forensic Medicine, New Delhi, 2021) de Silva, R.L.S.K.; Kitulwatte, I.D.G.; Priyanath, D.C.; Gunathilake, M.M.A.C.; Senanayake, T.A.A.W.; Kumari, M.K.J.K.
    Introduction: Presence of an enlarged heart provides a basis for determination of the cause and mechanisms of death. Gender, physical activity, and Body Mass Index (BMI) may affect the size of organs. Knowledge on such normal variations is needed in order to recognize the abnormalities.Objectives- This research was conducted to study the dimensions of the heart(heart weight, left ventricular thickness and valvular circumferences) among the young adult healthy deceased autopsies and evaluate their association with different variables.Methods:It was a descriptive cross-sectional study and 20-40 years of age healthy, young, adult, males and females in equal numbers who had died suddenly were studied by considering the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Details of the past history and the measurements were entered into a proforma and the anonymous data were used for analysis.Results: The study revealed that the mean values of the heart weight was 280.52g (SD+/- 42.60), it was 293.94g (SD+/-39.29) for males and 267.10g (SD+/-42.64) for females. There was no significant association of heart weight with gender (P= 0.46410). There was a significant association between BMI and the heart weight of the females (P= 0.0387), no such association for left ventricular wall thickness. Further, there was a significant difference of the tricuspid valve circumference among two genders and the values were 11.6cm (SD+/-0.82) for males and 10.7cm (SD+/-0.6) for females.Conclusions: Majority of the findings was consistent with the findings of the studies globally on Caucasians. Increased body mass index was significantly associated with increased heart weight among females which could probably be explained as a consequence of increased epicardial fat since there was no such association for left ventricular wall thickness