title: Suicidal single gunshot injury to the head: differences in site of entrance wound and direction of the bullet path between right- and left-handed--an autopsy study.
abstract: The aim of this study was to determine the differences in the anatomical site of a gunshot entrance wound and the direction of the bullet path between right- and left-handed subjects who committed a suicide by a single gunshot injury to the head. The retrospective autopsy study was performed for a 10-year period, and it included selected cases of single suicidal gunshot head injury, committed by handguns. We considered only contact or near-contact wounds. The sample included 479 deceased, with average age 47.1 ± 19.1 years (range, 12-89 years): 432 males and 47 females, with 317 right-handed, 25 left-handed, and 137 subjects with unknown dominant hand. In our observed sample, most cases involved the right temple as the site of entrance gunshot wound (about 67%), followed by the mouth (16%), forehead (7%), left temple (6%), submental (2%), and parietal region (1%). The left temple, right temple, and forehead were the sites of the gunshot entrance wounds, which were the best predictors of the handedness of the deceased (Spearman ρ = 0.149, P = 0.006). Our study showed that the direction of the bullet intracranial path in cases of suicide was even a more potent predictor of the handedness of the deceased (Spearman ρ = 0.263, P = 0.000; Wald = 149.503, P = 0.000).
authors.affiliation: Institute of Forensic Medicine, University of Belgrade School of Medicine, 31a Deligradska Str., Belgrade, Serbia. slobodan.nikolic@mfub.bg.ac.rs
authors.forename: Slobodan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nikolić
authors.forename: Vladimir
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Zivković
authors.forename: Dragan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Babić
authors.forename: Fehim
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Juković
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D044709:Forensic Ballistics; D049429:Forensic Pathology; D007839:Functional Laterality; D020197:Head Injuries, Penetrating / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009055:Mouth / Q000293:injuries / Q000473:pathology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D017678:Sex Distribution; D013405:Suicide; D014948:Wounds, Gunshot / Q000473:pathology*; D055815:Young Adult