title: Two decades of adolescent suicides assessed at Milan University's medicolegal unit: Epidemiology, forensic pathology and psychopathology.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  to analyze the cases of suicide committed by adolescents in and around the city of Milan over a 20-year period (1993-2012).
  
  
  METHODS
  cases of suicide involving individuals between 10 and 19 years of age were drawn from 20,757 autopsies performed by the Medico-legal Unit at Milan University. Seventy-eight cases were considered (20 females and 58 males, with the ratio of 1:2.9), and their clinical and circumstantial histories, epidemiology, forensic pathology and psychopathological issues were analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Adolescents were involved in 2.23% of all suicides committed in Milan during the period examined. The "mean" victim is a male without psychiatric disease, aged between 16 and 19, that commits suicide outdoors.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In the majority of cases, there were no premonitory signs, nor any particular contingent or remote reason that might explain these violent deaths, which therefore remain "impulsive".
authors.affiliation: Sezione di Psicologia, Dipartimento di Fisiopatologia Medico Chirurgica e dei Trapianti, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Fratelli Cervi 93, 20090 Segrate MI, Italy.
authors.forename: Carlo Alfredo
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Clerici
authors.affiliation: Sezione di Medicina Legale e delle Assicurazioni, Dipartimento di Scienze Biomediche per la Salute, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Luigi Mangiagalli 37, 20133 Milano, Italy.
authors.forename: Guendalina
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gentile
authors.affiliation: Azienda Ospedaliera Papa Giovanni XXIII, Piazza OMS 1, 24127 Bergamo, Italy.
authors.forename: Matteo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Marchesi
authors.affiliation: Sezione di Medicina Legale e delle Assicurazioni, Dipartimento di Scienze Biomediche per la Salute, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Luigi Mangiagalli 37, 20133 Milano, Italy.
authors.forename: Enrico
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Muccino
authors.affiliation: Sezione di Psicologia, Dipartimento di Fisiopatologia Medico Chirurgica e dei Trapianti, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Fratelli Cervi 93, 20090 Segrate MI, Italy.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Veneroni
authors.affiliation: Sezione di Medicina Legale e delle Assicurazioni, Dipartimento di Scienze Biomediche per la Salute, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Luigi Mangiagalli 37, 20133 Milano, Italy. Electronic address: riccardo.zoia@unimi.it.
authors.forename: Riccardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zoja
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D017677:Age Distribution; D054541:Family Conflict; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology; D044469:Racial Groups / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012621:Seasons; D017678:Sex Distribution; D059020:Suicidal Ideation; D013405:Suicide / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Adolescence; Forensic pathology; Psychopathology; Suicide