Felix Mayer

Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf | HHU · Institute of Legal Medicine

As part of a third-party funded project, expert opinions according to the Istanbul Protocol (IP) standards were compiled in Germany on a larger scale for the first time. The assessment process was initiated for 130 project participants. Statistical analysis on numerous variables was performed to test the impact of the expert opinions, foremost of t...

Die vorliegenden Empfehlungen adressieren für den Fall von vorgetragenem Foltererleben die über das bekannte Vorgehen bei forensisch-medizinischen Untersuchungen hinausgehenden Aspekte. Sie wurden von den Partner*innen des durch den Asyl-, Migrations- und Integrationsfonds (AMIF) der Europäischen Union geförderten Projekts InTo Justice („interdisci...

Age estimation based on DNA methylation (DNAm) can be applied to children, adolescents and adults, but many CG dinucleotides (CpGs) exhibit different kinetics of age-associated DNAm across these age ranges. Furthermore, it is still unclear how growth disorders impact epigenetic age predictions, and this may be particularly relevant for a forensic a...

Zusammenfassung Folter ist weltweit verbreitet, u. a. in Ländern, aus denen Menschen fliehen, um in Deutschland Asyl zu beantragen. Menschen mit Foltererfahrung stellen eine vulnerable Gruppe dar und benötigen eine adäquate Versorgung. Insbesondere beim Erkennen von Personen mit Foltererfahrung kommt dem Gesundheitssystem, v. a. medizinischem Perso...

The diagnosis of death due to violent asphyxiation may be challenging if external injuries are missing, and a typical acute emphysema (AE) “disappears” in pre-existing chronic emphysema (CE). Eighty-four autopsy cases were systematically investigated to identify a (histo-) morphological or immunohistochemical marker combination that enables the dia...

The estimation of wound age and wound vitality is a recurring task in forensic routine work and has been subject of forensic research for a long time. By now, an unrestrictedly reliable marker or set of markers has not been found. In a study on myocardial infarctions, matrix metalloproteinases (MMP) 2 and 9 as well as tissue inhibitor of matrix met...

The extensive seizure of child pornographic material from suspects throughout Germany is leading to an increasing number of requests for analysis being received by forensic medical institutes and anthropological experts. Depending on the type of material and the circumstances of the case, different issues have to be considered. These range from the...

It has already been proposed that a combined use of different molecular and mor-phological markers of aging in multivariate models may result in a greater accuracy of age estimation. However, such an approach can be complex and expensive, and not every combination may be useful. The significance and usefulness of combined analy-ses of D-aspartic ac...

Age estimation based on the analysis of DNA methylation patterns has become a focus of forensic research within the past few years. However, there is little data available regarding postmortem DNA methylation analysis yet, and literature mainly encompasses analysis of blood from corpses without any signs of decomposition. It is not entirely clear y...

Die speziellen Bedarfe von Menschen, die Folter erlebt haben, sollten bei der Gesundheitsversorgung besser berücksichtigt werden. Deutschland ist davon jedoch noch weit entfernt. Erfahrungen für eine bessere Versorgung aus einem Modellprojekt.

Cocaine-related deaths occur regularly in forensic routine work. In cases in which the detected concentration of cocaine is rather low and other causes of death apart from intoxication can be ruled out, the question arises if adulterants of cocaine might have played a crucial role. In the present study, cardiac effects of cocaine, of the adulterant...

Zusammenfassung Im Rahmen von Begutachtungen zu möglichen Folgen von Folterhandlungen fiel mehrfach der Befund gleichartiger Gruppierungen von über den Rücken verteilten, strichförmigen Narben auf. Ein ähnlich imponierendes, frischeres Verletzungsbild wurde bei einem weiteren Fall festgestellt und konnte auf „Hijama“ (blutiges Schröpfen) zurückgefü...

Omecamtiv mecarbil (OM) is a first-in-class myosin activator. It was developed as a new inotropic therapy option for heart failure and is currently the object of a phase 3 clinical trial program. OM activates ryanodine receptors, which were shown to be involved in cardioprotection induced by conditioning strategies. We hypothesize that OM exerts a...

The immunohistochemical detection of dityrosine, troponins I (cTNI) and T (cTnT), and connexin 43 has been proposed as a tool for the diagnosis of myocardial infarction with short survival times. Results of clinical and experimental studies reveal that gender and/or ischemic preconditioning of the heart may have an influence on severity and magnitu...

Matrixmetalloproteinases (MMP) 2 and 9 as well as tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases (TIMP) 1 were tested as markers of myocardial early ischemia/infarctions. Experiments with an animal model, the isolated Langendorff heart, and analysis of human tissue samples drawn during autopsies were performed. Results of the experiments with the Langendor...

Myocardial infarctions go along with biomechanical stress, i.e. stretching of muscle fibres, and the expression of certain marker molecules. We tested if two of those markers, endothelin-1 (ET-1) and growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF-15), can be used as immunohistochemical markers for myocardial ischaemia/infarctions. The study included experim...

Background There has been a recent increase of requests for clinical forensic evaluation of torture survivors, not only in Germany. These evaluations can be challenging. Objective The diagnostic and organizational characteristics, possibilities and unsolved issues concerning the clinical forensic evaluation of torture survivors are presented. Mat...

The isolated Langendorff heart was used to evaluate dityrosine as a marker of acute myocardial infarctions. The animal model allowed the generation of local infarctions with defined survival times, as well as infarctions with and without reperfusion. The results showed that dityrosine, at least under the conditions of the animal model, occurs very...

Aging is reflected by highly reproducible DNA methylation (DNAm) changes that open new perspectives for estimation of chronological age in legal medicine. DNA can be harvested non-invasively from cells at the inside of a person's cheek using buccal swabs - but these specimens resemble heterogeneous mixtures of buccal epithelial cells and leukocytes...

The verification of acute and lethal myocardial infarctions remains a crucial problem in the daily routine work of legal medicine. In order to enhance the possibilities in micromorphologic diagnostics, we investigated if dityrosine as a protein product of oxidative stress can be detected in myocardial tissue after an infarction and, if so, if it oc...

Methods for the verification of the identity of offenders in cases involving video-surveillance images in criminal investigation events are currently under scrutiny by several forensic experts around the globe. The anthroposcopic, or morphological, approach based on facial features is the most frequently used by international forensic experts. Howe...

Two cases from the Ruhr Area in Western Germany are presented. In each case, the deceased had been wrapped in plastic bags and placed inside a large compost bin in the backyard of the property. In both cases, the relatives claimed that the decedent had died from a natural cause and that they had concealed the body to ensure the further payment of t...

The article describes a shortly survived suicide with a powder-actuated tool. A 51-year-old man shot all through his head from the right to the left temple. The pin produced an extensive area of destruction in the brain tissue, but neither in the hospital nor during the autopsy was any projectile found. Finally the pin was detected in a metal fitti...