title: Postmortem computed tomography images of a broken piece of a weapon in the skull.
abstract: The use of post-mortem radiological imaging is becoming increasing widespread in forensic medicine. These images can help improve the quality and safety of autopsy. We report two cases of homicide victims that had broken pieces of a weapon in their skull. Postmortem multislice computed tomography (MSCT) demonstrated metal artifacts in the skull of two homicide cases. Autopsy showed that both artifacts were pieces broken off of a sharp instrument. Some possible benefits of postmortem MSCT include the ability to reconstruct visual images of weapons and the possible prevention of injury to autopsy personnel.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Imaging, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-1 Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi, 980-8575, Japan. ssu@rad.med.tohoku.ac.jp
authors.forename: Yusuke
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kawasumi
authors.forename: Yoshiyuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hosokai
authors.forename: Akihito
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Usui
authors.forename: Haruo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Saito
authors.forename: Tadashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ishibashi
authors.forename: Masato
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Funayama
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D005547:Foreign Bodies / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D049429:Forensic Pathology; D006708:Homicide; D006801:Humans; D061330:Multidetector Computed Tomography; D012886:Skull / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D014951:Wounds, Stab / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*