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Minerva Medicolegale 2000 September;120(3): 159-76

Copyright © 2000 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: Italian

Spongiform encephalopathies and forensic medicine

Mondini P., Jourdan S., McDonagh A., Rossi M.

On the basis of the recent interest in bovine spongiform encephalopathy and the human condition of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a review of the pertinent literature is made.The particular issue of the involvement of the forensic practitioner is pointed out both on the anatomical front and in the emerging field of medicolegal implications that transmissible spongiform encephalopaties (TSE) engender, e.g., establishing a causal nexus with workplace, with medical procedures, the environment, etc., so as to address the creation of a compensation scheme for victims of such devastating diseases. The etiopatogenetic, nosographic and epidemiological aspects of the whole group of TSEs has been outlined with aim of providing a handy synopsis for the practioner of forensic medicine.