Unusual three-dimensional bite mark evidence in a homicide case

A comparison has been made between bite marks observed on the nose of a female homicide victim and the configuration of the dental structures of a male suspect. The victim's bite marks showed a number of demonstrable characteristics which could be reproduced by models of the dentition of the suspect. Special peculiarities within and between individual teeth, together with the upper and lower jaw relationship, were demonstrably consistent with the bite mark patterns on the victim's nose. Detailed examination of the scientific evidence led the dental investigators to the conclusion that there was a positive match between the suspect's dentition and the bite mark on the decedent's nose. The dental investigation and subsequent dental testimony were prime factors leading to the defendant's conviction of manslaughter in the first case in California involving the major use of bite mark evidence.     

An unusual snake bite story

The case is reported of a seven-year-old girl who was bitten by a tiger snake and sustained severe liver, skeletal muscle and myocardial muscle damage as a result of envenomation. She recovered after treatment with polyvalent snake bite antivenom preceded by promethazine.     

Effects of fatigue and chewing training on maximal bite force and endurance

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the effects of chewing training on the strength and resistance to fatigue of the masticatory muscles. Twenty-five healthy adults were divided into an experimental group (7 men, 10 women) and a control group (4 men, 4 women). The experimental group chewed a special hard chewing gum one hour daily for 28 days. Maximal bite force and endurance were measured. The maximal bite force already showed a significant increase in the experimental group by the middle of the experimental period (p < 0.05), reached the highest values by the end of the training period (p < 0.001), and also remained at high levels 2 weeks after (p < 0.001). Subjects with weak initial maximal bite force values showed the highest increase in their strength after training (r = -0.66, p < 0.01). This type of training did not influence the endurance time during maximal clenching or the reduction in this endurance time after a dynamic fatigue test. No significant differences were found between the maximal bite force before and that after the fatigue test under either untrained or trained conditions. In the control group no significant differences were found between the recording sessions. In conclusion, 4 weeks training with a hard chewing gum seems to influence the functional capacity of the masticatory muscles and increase their strength.     

Renal failure after snake bite

Three cases of acute renal failure after snake bite are presented. All required dialysis and the recovery phase was prolonged in each case. Investigations show that microangiopathic haemolytic anaemia was associated with the acute renal failure.     

A red-back spider bite in a lymphoedematous arm

We administered a record eight ampoules of antivenom over one week to a 55-year-old woman with a red-back spider bite on her chronically lymphoedematous right arm. She had severe local signs of envenomation but relatively little systemic effect. The final antivenom dose, injected subcutaneously at the bite site, had a good effect.     

Clinical trial of intramuscular anti-snake venom administration as a first aid measure in the field in the management of Russell's viper bite patients

Efficacy of intramuscular anti-snake venom administration immediately after bite as a first aid measure in the field followed by standard hospital management versus standard hospital management alone in the therapy of Russell's viper bite patients was studied. There was a definite reduction in the number of patients with systemic envenomation, complications following disseminated intravascular coagulation and in fatality rate of Russell's viper bite victims who had received first aid intramuscular anti-snake venom prior to hospitalization when compared with those who had not.     

An outbreak of vampire bat bite in a Brazilian village

An outbreak of 26 cases of vampire bat bite in one month in the rural area of Honorópolis, a Brazilian village, is reported. All patients were bitten during the night, when they were asleep, and most bites were on their toes. No complication attributed to the bite was reported. The patients were given prophylactic antirabies serum and rabies vaccine. Control of the outbreak was achieved by visiting bat roosting sites, smearing captured vampire bats (Desmodus rotundus) with a paste of 2% warfarin in vaseline, and releasing them. No case of human or animal rabies was diagnosed in a 5-month follow-up. A possible explanation for the outbreak of bat bite is that, because of man-induced environmental modifications in their habitats, vampire bats in Honorópolis now live in the peridomiciliar area, where people are more exposed to their bites. An alternative explanation is related to the use in cattle of a pyrethroid insecticide to control the horn fly, Haematobia irritans, as both events were temporally related. The insecticide could have had a repellent effect on bats, that then started to seek alternative food sources.     

Pasteurella multocida infectious arthritis with acute gout after a cat bite

A 74-year-old man with chronic lymphocytic leukemia, immune purpura, and gout presented with a painful, swollen ankle after a cat bite to his leg. On aspiration of the ankle, gram negative pleomorphic rods and monosodium urate crystals were seen and Pasteurella multocida was cultured. He was treated with ampicillin/sulbactam, joint aspiration, and intraarticular steroids, with resolution of infection and return of joint function. The syndromes of Pasteurella arthritis and crystal arthropathy with septic arthritis are reviewed.     

Boomslang (Dispholidus typus) bite: case report

A male patient was admitted to a mission hospital after having been bitten by a boomslang (Dispholidus typus). He received a Ringer's lactate infusion and polyvalent antiserum, with good results initially. Three hours after the bite serious haemorrhage started and he received 2,5 litres of blood and 1 litre of plasma. Thirty-two hours after he had been bitten specific boomslang antiserum was administered, after which the patient improved and was eventually cured and discharged.     

Correlation between maximum bite force and facial morphology in children

The correlation between maximum bite force and facial morphology was studied in 54 boys, 8 to 16 years old, and 66 girls, 7 to 17 years old. Bite force was measured at the first molars with a miniature bite force recorder. Facial morphology was evaluated on profile cephalograms. In addition, the number of teeth in contact in the intercuspal position was recorded with occlusal foils. In the girls, maximum bite force was correlated with the inclination of the mandible, the size of the gonial angle, and the ratio between posterior and anterior face heights. The correlations implied a large bite force with a small mandibular inclination and gonial angle, a large posterior face height in relation to the anterior face height, and a small bite force with the opposite facial characteristics. These correlations were nonexistent or weaker in boys. In both sexes, bite force was correlated with the number of occlusal contacts. Elimination of the influence of age and occlusal contact in the group of girls by the use of partial correlations reduced the correlation between bite force and facial morphology. A significant correlation with the size of the gonial angle remained, however, and the correlation with mandibular inclination was close to significance. In addition to the correlations found with facial morphology, the study clearly demonstrated the need to take gender and occlusal contacts into consideration in future studies of masticatory muscle function and strength in relation to facial morphology.     

Changes in bite force and occlusal contacts in patients treated for mandibular prognathism by orthognathic surgery

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate changes in bite force and occlusal contacts before and after orthognathic surgery in patients with mandibular prognathism and to compare the findings with those in controls with normal occlusion. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Bite force and occlusal contacts were analyzed in 23 (7 male and 16 female) patients with mandibular prognathism before and after sagittal split ramus osteotomy, and in 20 (10 male and 10 female) controls with normal occlusion. The bite force and occlusal contacts were simultaneously measured by a computerized occlusal analysis system, the T-Scan system, immediately before surgery, and at 6 weeks, 3 months, 6 months, and 1 year postoperatively. RESULTS: Both the bite force and occlusal contacts in the patients were significantly less than those in the controls before surgery. Although both the bite force and occlusal contacts in the patients were improved by the orthognathic surgery, neither approached the level in the controls within 1 year. Bite force was correlated with the number of occlusal contacts in both patient and control groups. CONCLUSION: The postoperative masticatory function does not reach control levels even 1 year after the orthognathic surgery for mandibular prognathism. Therefore, further adjustment of the occlusion should be considered before the end of treatment.     

Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae bacteremia after dog bite

A case of erysipeloid with bacteraemia caused by Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae (ER) in a previously healthy 41-year old man is presented. The bacterium was probably introduced by the bite of a dog. He was treated successfully with penicillin V. The ER bacteraemia occurred without complications of endocarditis.     

Rhabdomyolysis in European viper bite

The case of a child who presented with severe rhabdomyolysis associated with renal failure after a viper bite is reported. Rhabdomyolysis is a serious complication resulting from systemic envenomation and is uncommon after viper bites in Europe. It may be due to oedema, myotoxic agents and haemorrhagic factors and may be responsible for two types of potentially fatal complications, i.e. acute renal failure and hyperkalaemia. The present case highlights the need to investigate routinely for rhabdomyolysis after viper bites. Antivenom therapy is recommended as soon as signs of envenomation are present, without waiting for the onset of complications.     

The effects of dental condition on hand strength and maximum bite force

Piezoelectric force transducer and hand dynamometer were used for measuring the maximum bite force and hand grasp force on 2034 primary, middle, and high school students. Dental condition and body weight and height were also observed to relate to the force measurements. It was discovered that both forces increased relative to the increase of age, body weight, and body height. Boys had stronger bite force than girls at all age groups, while the grasp force of boys became significantly stronger only after the age of 13. Students who had dentition with decay and missing teeth tended to have weaker bite force, while hand force was not influenced. Bite force does not seem parallel to hand strength and is, instead, related to dental condition.     

A case of tick bite by a spontaneously retreated Ixodes nipponensis

A 58-year old housewife consulted us about 1 cm sized, dark-brownish, bean-like mass which was dropped spontaneously from indurated skin lesion on her abdomen. The mass was identified morphologically as an engorged female Ixodes nipponensis. Nine days earlier, she had an excursion collecting edible sprouts of wild grass. Spontaneous retreat has been unusual in clinical tick bites in Korea. Fourteen cases of tick bite described in the Korean literature were reviewed briefly in relation to Lyme borreliosis.     

Effect of jaw opening on the direction and magnitude of human incisal bite forces

The maximum bite force (MBF) appears to be different when measured at different jaw openings (e.g., Manns et al., 1979; Mackenna and Turker, 1983; Lindauer et al., 1993). However, the change could be related to a change in the bite direction. We have measured the MBF on incisors and its direction in three dimensions for different jaw openings in ten subjects. Surface electromyography (EMG) of anterior temporalis and masseter muscles on both sides was recorded simultaneously. The results showed that: (1) the average %MBF increased as the jaw was opened, reached a plateau between 14 and 28 mm of incisal separation, and then decreased at wider jaw openings; (2) the initial forward bite direction with respect to the mandibular occlusal plane shifted backwards during jaw opening; and (3) the activity of the masseter muscles declined and that of the temporalis muscles was largely unchanged, resulting in an increase of the ratio between the activity in temporalis and masseter muscles (T/M). There was a significant correlation between bite direction and jaw opening (r = 0.51, p < 0.001) and between T/M ratio and jaw opening (r = 0.56, p < 0.001). Based on comparative data, we have calculated sarcomere lengths while the jaw is opened and hypothesize that the average %MBF reaches its maximum when the sarcomeres in the masseter muscle achieve their optimum length. A plateau continues during further jaw opening, until those of temporalis reach their optimum length while those of masseter lengthen beyond their optimum length. The change in bite direction was attributed to either a change in the relation between upper and lower bite points as the jaw was opened or the gradual decline of masseter activity at larger openings.     

Black widow spider (Latrodectus tredecimguttatus) bite. Presentation of 12 cases

The most severe cases of arachnidism are those due to Latrodectus tredecimguttatus spider-bite. The Mediterranean area is the habitat of the L. tredecimguttatus species. In the last few years no series of patients with latrodectism has been reported in Spain. A retrospective study of the patients admitted for L. tredecimguttatus spider bite in the Torrecárdenas Hospital in Almeria, Spain from 1984 to 1994 was performed. Twelve patients were diagnosed with latrodectism. Eleven were bitten while carrying out agricultural tasks, 8 of which were performed in greenhouses. The mean time between the bite and the appearance of the general symptoms was 40 minutes (20-120 minutes), with the most common signs and symptoms being: pain and abdominal stiffness (10 cases), erythema (10 cases) or pain (8 cases) at the site of the bite, thoracic pain, pain in extremities and contractures and psychomotor alterations (6 cases). Laboratory findings were limited to leukocytosis (4 cases), increase in creatinphosphokinase count (4 cases) and proteinuria (3 cases). All the patients received analgesics, 6 were administered myorelaxants and calcium gluconate was given in 6 cases. The evolution was good without complications in all of the patients. Latrodectism is a rare phenomenon Spain. The diagnosis is difficult when there is absence of a clear history of spider bite and due to the lack of knowledge as to its semiology. Antivenom serum is not usually required.     

Occlusion of the cervical internal carotid artery due to a dog bite wound: case report

A rare case of traumatic occlusion of the carotid artery at the neck caused by a dog bite is reported. A 10-year-old boy presented delayed onset of left hemiparesis after a dog-bite wound in the right neck. CT scan revealed a cerebral infarction in the right basal ganglia, and IV-DSA disclosed complete occlusion of the right internal carotid artery at the neck. The patient was treated conservatively and his left hemiparesis improved, but impaired visual acuity remained on the right side. Repeated IV-DSA 12 days later showed recanalization of the right internal carotid artery. The mechanisms of the traumatic occlusion of the internal carotid artery were discussed with reference to the literature.     

Measurement of bite force in dogs: a pilot study

A force transducer was developed to measure bite force in dogs. A total of 101 readings was obtained from 22 pet dogs ranging in size from 7 to 55 kg. Bite forces ranged from 13 to 1394 Newtons with a mean for all dogs of 256 Newtons and a median of 163 Newtons. Most measurements fell within the low end of the range, with 55% of the biting episodes less than 200 Newtons and 77% less than 400 Newtons.     

Acute chromoblastomycosis provoked by an insect bite in an immunosuppressed patient

This is the report of a case of acute chromoblastomycosis observed in a 59-year-old immunosuppressed patient in Barinas, Barinas State, Venezuela, provoked by an insect bite in the right upper arm, apparently cured by extirpation. Because the final diagnosis was made only by histological examination of the surgical specimen, no culture was performed.