title: Suicide by pencil.
abstract: We report an unusual suicide, committed with a common pencil. A 72-year-old male inflicted himself a penetrating thoracic wound while being hospitalized for a hip prosthesis operation. Although the patient was immediately operated, the cardiac injury appeared to be fatal. Cases of suicidal penetrating wounds of the anterior chest wall are rare and they are mostly inflicted by knives, glass fragments, or other sharp instruments. The potential danger of a pencil should be taken into consideration, especially in psychiatric hospitals and imprisonment facilities. We examined the legislation in Italy and Finland concerning the regulation of privacy in special care institutions.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Legal Medicine, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Rome. fdegiorgio@tiscalinet.it
authors.forename: Leonardo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Grimaldi
authors.forename: Fabio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: De Giorgio
authors.forename: Mara
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Masullo
authors.forename: Giuseppe Biondi
authors.initials: GB
authors.lastname: Zoccai
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Martinotti
authors.forename: Juha
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rainio
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D005554:Forensic Medicine; D006335:Heart Injuries / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012770:Shock, Cardiogenic / Q000473:pathology; D013405:Suicide; D014950:Wounds, Penetrating / Q000473:pathology*