title: Use of 3D reconstruction of emergency and postoperative craniocerebral CT images to explore craniocerebral trauma mechanism.
abstract: We report a craniocerebral trauma case in which a man sustained severe skull fractures and cerebral contusions and it demanded elucidating the injury mechanism of being formed by strike or tumble. However, the initial features of skull fractures were mostly lost when the forensic pathologists involved in the case 5 months later because of injury healing and craniocerebral surgery. Therefore, we aimed to reconstruct the original skull fracture features by utilizing the digital reconstruction technologies in terms of CT (computed tomography) scanning, 3D (3-dimentional) reconstruction, and virtual surgical tools. The original fracture skull was assembled by using Mimics 13.0 based on the CT slices of postoperative head and the removed craniotomy skull flaps, which revealed fracture features of focal and overall skull deformation. Based on the assembly skull model and the contrecoup cerebral contusions, we conclude that the man suffered a tumble after being drunk and the serious craniocerebral trauma occurred. The case demonstrated that the digital reconstruction technologies can serve as effective approaches for forensic investigation in case of survived craniocerebral trauma patients without direct evidences interpreting the original trauma patterns, which could potentially be helpful in exploring the injury mechanisms.
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Key Laboratory of Forensic Medicine, Institute of Forensic Science, Ministry of Justice, 1347# West Guangfu Road, Shanghai 200063, China.
authors.forename: Zhengdong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Key Laboratory of Forensic Medicine, Institute of Forensic Science, Ministry of Justice, 1347# West Guangfu Road, Shanghai 200063, China.
authors.forename: Donghua
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zou
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Key Laboratory of Forensic Medicine, Institute of Forensic Science, Ministry of Justice, 1347# West Guangfu Road, Shanghai 200063, China.
authors.forename: Jianhua
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Key Laboratory of Forensic Medicine, Institute of Forensic Science, Ministry of Justice, 1347# West Guangfu Road, Shanghai 200063, China.
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shao
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Key Laboratory of Forensic Medicine, Institute of Forensic Science, Ministry of Justice, 1347# West Guangfu Road, Shanghai 200063, China. Electronic address: huangpingifs@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Key Laboratory of Forensic Medicine, Institute of Forensic Science, Ministry of Justice, 1347# West Guangfu Road, Shanghai 200063, China. Electronic address: yijiuchen@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Yijiu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000058:Accidental Falls; D000328:Adult; D000435:Alcoholic Intoxication / Q000150:complications; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000209:etiology; D003399:Craniotomy; D005554:Forensic Medicine / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional; D008297:Male; D061330:Multidetector Computed Tomography; D020204:Skull Fracture, Depressed / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery
keywords: Assembled 3D reconstruction; Craniocerebral trauma; Injury mechanism; Virtopsy