Backgroud: Because of misinterpretation of some homicides and accidental deaths as a suicide, autopsy should be
performed to exclude deaths secondary to other origins in all death cases appearing as a suicide. We aimed to
investigate the characteristics of deaths originated from suicide in Malatya, an east region of Turkey.
Matherial and Method: The corpse examination and autopsy procedures performed between 1999 and 2002 in
Malatya Forensic Medicine Institute, a subunit of The Institute of Forensic Medicine of Turkey, were retrospectively
evaluated.
Results: Total recorded cases were 630. Autopsy procedure was performed in 171 (27.1%) cases. Deaths originated
from suicide was 44 (7%) cases (25 male, 19 female; age range 10-76). Thirty-seven (84.1%) of suicide cases
underwent to autopsy procedure. The ways in committing suicide were as follows:
Hanging, in 54.5%; toxic drugs, in 20.5%; gunshots, in 18.2%; jumping, in 4.5; using sharp edged object, in 2.3%. In
majority of deaths originated from suicide (97.7%), the autopsy procedure was performed by a forensic medicine
specialist. Most of the suicide cases have been occured in February with a frequency of 18.2%, while no case in
March.
Conclusion: Although the frequency of deaths originated from suicide in East part of Turkey are lower than the
developed countries, the number of suicide cases can not be omitted. Thus, general preventive measures are valid in
terms for this region of our country.
Key Words: Malatya, Suicide, Post mortem examination, Autopsy Pprocedures
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