title: On the evidential value of a Messerer fracture sustained in a car-pedestrian traffic accident.
abstract: A pedestrian was killed in a road traffic accident by collision with a car coming from the right. The victim's right femur was observed to have sustained a wedge-shaped fracture with biconcave side edges (so-called Messerer fracture), with the apex of the wedge pointing in the direction opposite to the direction of travel of the car. The absence of skin or soft tissue injuries in the area of the fracture means that it is reasonable to assume that this 'reverse wedge fracture' is an indirect fracture. The mechanism by which characteristic wedge-shaped fractures are produced through compression along the longitudinal axis of the bone has long been known. When reconstructing the direction of travel of a car involved in a collision with a pedestrian, forensic pathologists should therefore be cautious of assessing Messerer fractures in isolation.
authors: Institute of Legal Medicine, University Hospital Münster, Röntgenstraße 23, 48149, Münster, Germany.
authors: Sven
authors: S
authors: Schmidt
authors: Institute of Legal Medicine, University Hospital Münster, Röntgenstraße 23, 48149, Münster, Germany.
authors: Ronald
authors: R
authors: Schulz
authors: Institute of Legal Medicine, University Hospital Münster, Röntgenstraße 23, 48149, Münster, Germany.
authors: Heidi
authors: H
authors: Pfeiffer
authors: Institute of Legal Medicine, University Hospital Münster, Röntgenstraße 23, 48149, Münster, Germany. andreas.schmeling@ukmuenster.de.
authors: Andreas
authors: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0135-1617
authors: A
authors: Schmeling
authors: , Zähringerstraße 34, 10707, Berlin, Germany.
authors: Gunther
authors: G
authors: Geserick
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D005264:Femoral Fractures / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D009104:Multiple Trauma / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology; D000069636:Pedestrians
keywords: Car-pedestrian collision; Forensic traumatology; Messerer fracture; Road traffic accident