Importance of radiological diagnosis applied to necroscopy.
The authors evaluate the consequences of incomplete necroscopic examinations wherein it was impossible to apply radiological resources to locate firearm projectiles. The study includes 8185 reports from the Instituto Médico-Legal Afrânio Peixoto in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, representing the totality of corpses processed from January to December 2001; of these, 3122 were gunshot victims, 309 of which were buried with unremoved projectiles, being liable to future judicial reappraisal. During the same period, there were 23 exhumation requests by police authorities, 12 of them querying the existence of projectiles. The authors looked into the formal reasons assumed by the medico legal experts to conclude their reports from incomplete examinations, and suggest that gunshot necroscopic examinations should follow specific protocols, as incomplete autopsies will require further exhumations, at unnecessary additional costs.
Instituto Médico-Legal Afrânio Peixoto, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Sílvia Falcão
SF
de Oliveira
Casimiro Abreu Possante
CA
de Almeida
Bruno Luís Galluzzi
BL
da Silva Dalcin
Hilton Augusto
HA
Koch
Bianca
B
Gutfilen
D001344:Autopsy; D001938:Brazil; D004864:Equipment and Supplies; D049249:Exhumation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D044709:Forensic Ballistics; D006801:Humans; D008283:Maintenance; D011859:Radiography / Q000295:instrumentation; D013679:Technology, Radiologic; D000078329:Workforce; D014948:Wounds, Gunshot / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*