LABANOF, Laboratorio di Antropologia e Odontologia Forense, Istituto di Medicina Legale, Dipartimento di Scienze Biomediche per la Salute, Università degli Studi di Milano, via Luigi Mangiagalli, 37, 20133 Milano, Italy.
LABANOF, Laboratorio di Antropologia e Odontologia Forense, Istituto di Medicina Legale, Dipartimento di Scienze Biomediche per la Salute, Università degli Studi di Milano, via Luigi Mangiagalli, 37, 20133 Milano, Italy.
Leg Med (Tokyo). 2021 Mar;49:101850. doi: 10.1016/j.legalmed.2021.101850. Epub 2021 Jan 29.
Accurate identification and analysis of signs of trauma on human bone is one of the mainstays of forensic pathology. However, when a forensic pathologist has to deal with charred remains, the task become extremely difficult, because tissues are subjected to severe morphological alterations and their assessment can be critically distorted. We analyzed 38 individuals with peri-mortem skull fractures due to falls from height (17 cases), traffic accidents (16 cases), gunshots wounds (5 cases), of which we had the demographic and clinical data and the autopsy report with the description and photographic records of the fracture lines. After autopsy, the bodies were cremated in gas furnaces and the analysis of cremated cranial remains was conducted in order to verify if it was possible to reconstruct the original peri-mortem fractures and verify differences between known peri-mortem and post-mortem fractures. After 90 min and exposure to temperatures up to 1280 °C, in less than a third of cases (11-29%) the original peri-mortem fracture pattern could be found and reconstructed. The edges and the surface of the fractures can preserve their proper morphology, or they can be affected by post-mortem heat-induced fractures and deformations. Interestingly whenever peri-mortem fracture margins showed the evidence of yellow/brownish colouration, a matte appearance was observed, much different from post-mortem fractures, which may provide further food for thought for the identification of peri-mortem fractures after the cremation process.
准确识别和分析人类骨骼上的创伤迹象是法医病理学的主要支柱之一。然而，当法医病理学家不得不处理烧焦的遗骸时，任务变得极其困难，因为组织会受到严重的形态改变，其评估可能会受到严重扭曲。我们分析了 38 名因从高处坠落（17 例）、交通事故（16 例）、枪伤而导致生前颅骨骨折的个体，其中我们有这些个体的人口统计学和临床数据以及尸检报告，其中包括骨折线的描述和摄影记录。尸检后，这些尸体在煤气炉中火化，对火化的颅骨遗骸进行分析，以验证是否有可能重建原来的生前骨折，并验证已知生前和死后骨折之间的差异。在 90 分钟和高达 1280°C 的温度暴露后，不到三分之一的情况下（11-29%）可以找到并重建原来的生前骨折模式。骨折的边缘和表面可以保持其适当的形态，或者它们可能受到死后热诱导的骨折和变形的影响。有趣的是，每当生前骨折边缘显示出黄色/棕色着色的证据时，就会观察到哑光外观，与死后骨折明显不同，这可能为识别火化后生前骨折提供更多的思考。
