title: Use of multislice computed tomography in disaster victim identification--advantages and limitations.
abstract: After a mass fatality incident (MFI), all victims have to be rapidly and accurately identified for juridical reasons as well as for the relatives' sake. Since MFIs are often international in scope, Interpol has proposed standard disaster victim identification (DVI) procedures, which have been widely adopted by authorities and forensic experts. This study investigates how postmortem multislice computed tomography (MSCT) can contribute to the DVI process as proposed by Interpol. The Interpol postmortem (PM) form has been analyzed, and a number of items in sections D and E thereof have been postulated to be suitable for documentation by CT data. CT scans have then been performed on forensic cases. Interpretation of the reconstructed images showed that indeed much of the postmortem information required for identification can be gathered from CT data. Further advantages of the proposed approach concern the observer independent documentation, the possibility to reconstruct a variety of images a long time after the event, the possibility to distribute the work by transmitting CT data digitally, and the reduction of time and specialists needed at the disaster site. We conclude that MSCT may be used as a valuable screening tool in DVI in the future.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Forensic Medicine, University of Bern, Buehlstrasse 20, CH-3012 Bern, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sidler
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Jackowski
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dirnhofer
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Vock
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Thali
mesh_terms: D000365:Age Determination by Skeleton / Q000379:methods; D001823:Body Composition; D001827:Body Height; D001835:Body Weight; D001842:Bone and Bones / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D004190:Disasters; D005145:Face / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D005528:Foot / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D018732:Forensic Anthropology / Q000379:methods*; D049429:Forensic Pathology; D005568:Forms and Records Control / Q000592:standards; D006225:Hand / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D006801:Humans; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional; D044469:Racial Groups; D011861:Radiography, Dental; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods*