Perimortem Skeletal Sharp Force Trauma: Detection Reliability on CT Data, Demographics and Anatomical Patterns from a Forensic Dataset

Abstract

The increasing importance of trauma analysis by means of postmortem computed tomography (PMCT) is insufficiently reflected in forensic curricula, nor are best practice manuals available. We attempt to detect sharp force bone lesions on PMCT of closed forensic cases with the aims of assessing errors and pointing out patterns in anatomical location and manner of death (MOD). We investigated 41 closed sharp force fatality cases, with available PMCT and forensic reports. Two observers with different radiological training assessed the lesions on PMCT scans (2D and 3D) for comparison with the reports. Between 3% (suicides) and 15.3% (homicides) of sharp force injuries caused visible bone lesions. While our observations were repeatable, each forensic investigation left a similar number of bone lesions undetected. Injury patterns differed between MOD, with thoracic bone lesions being most frequent overall. Soft tissue injury location varied between the MOD. Associations between MOD and age as well as number of injuries were significant. The detection of bone lesions on PMCT for untrained forensic specialists is challenging, curricula and pertinent manuals are desirable. With the low frequency of bone lesions compared to soft tissue injuries, we should be aware when analyzing decomposed bodies.