title: [Interparietal bone in forensic practice: case report].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In forensic autopsy, pathologists pay attention to skull fracture lines. They are not much interested in the anatomical morphological variations of the skull bones, as long as the variations are not present. The interparietal bone is one of the anatomical variations that could be of interest for forensic pathologists.
  
  
  METHODS
  We present a case of a 54-year-old man who, after a fall overlived a head injury for six weeks. By chance, autopsy revealed an undivided interparietal bone. Its lateral sutures were fused with parietal bones and unrecognizable from the anterior skull bones, while the sutura mendosa was clearly visible.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The forensic pathologist should be able to recognize anatomic morphological variations, including those of skull bones. The interparietal bone could be interpreted wrongly as belonging to the fractured occipital bone, i.e. as a broken fragment. This is of particular significance in the cases, for example, of murder or child abuse. Its inferior suture can be seen by X-ray and possibly wrongly interpreted as a fracture line. The presence of this variation may be occasionally useful in the identification of an unknown or lost person.
authors.forename: Slobodan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nikolić
authors.forename: Vladimir
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Zivkovic
authors.forename: Fehim
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Juković
mesh_terms: D049429:Forensic Pathology; D050723:Fractures, Bone; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009777:Occipital Bone / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000293:injuries; D010294:Parietal Bone / Q000002:abnormalities* / Q000293:injuries; D012887:Skull Fractures / Q000175:diagnosis*