Using pre- and post-surgical foot and ankle radiographs for identification.
An evaluation of the effect of surgical intervention on foot and ankle radiographic comparisons was performed. In this study, 34 sets of pre-surgical ("premortem") and post-surgical ("postmortem") foot and ankle radiographs were retrospectively evaluated simulating a postmortem identification. In each radiographic set, the films were separated by a surgical event to reproduce the effects of an alteration in the anatomy. The radiographs included both matches and mismatches. This study also presents a numerical representation of the reliability of a radiographic match following a surgical procedure. Results indicate that surgical intervention with subsequent healing does not preclude positive identification in foot and ankle radiographic comparisons.
Rich
Jeremy
J
Harvard Medical School, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA.
Tatarek
Nancy E
NE
Powers
Robert H
RH
Brogdon
B G
BG
Lewis
Bradley J
BJ
Dean
Dorothy E
DE
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000842:Ankle / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D005528:Foot / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000601:surgery; D018732:Forensic Anthropology / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011180:Postmortem Changes; D011859:Radiography; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013997:Time Factors