LABANOF (Laboratorio di Antropologia e Odontologia Forense), Sezione 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), Sezione di Medicina Legale, Dipartimento di Scienze Biomediche per la Salute, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Luigi Mangiagalli, 37, 20133, Milano, Italy.
J Forensic Leg Med. 2021 Apr;79:102137. doi: 10.1016/j.jflm.2021.102137. Epub 2021 Feb 22.
Partially or totally skeletonized bodies are undoubtedly the most challenging scenario to deal with for forensic pathologists and anthropologists. Indeed, in such cases, being able to figure out the cause and manner of death is often tricky. Human remains require to be washed and cleaned before a thorough assessment of any signs of trauma. However, bones and any fragment of more or less putrefied soft tissues may be home to crucial traces for investigative purposes. They are often located in the context of apparently meaningless dirt and, sometimes they are even invisible to the naked eye. Therefore, their careless cleaning inevitably leads to an unintentional loss of such traces with a negative impact on subsequent investigations. For these reasons before proceeding with cleaning, exhaustive examination and sampling must be carried out. In particular fragments of soft tissues, even if putrefied, are absolutely not to be considered as a hindrance for forensic purposes, since they could still provide valuable information after histological examination. Finally, forward-thinking professionals should think about the possible presence of exogenous micro-traces of forensic concern and collect specimens to be analyzed through in-depth analyses, such as Scanning Electron Microscopy with Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectrometry (SEM/EDX). The present series of cases demonstrates that crucial forensic information can be obtained through the analysis of apparently meaningless residues and even of micro-traces not visible to the naked eye and mixed with trivial dirt.
部分或完全骨骼化的尸体无疑是法医病理学家和人类学家最具挑战性的处理场景。事实上，在这种情况下，能够确定死因和死亡方式往往很棘手。在对任何创伤迹象进行彻底评估之前，需要对人体遗骸进行清洗和清洁。然而，骨头和任何或多或少腐烂的软组织碎片都可能是调查目的的关键痕迹所在地。它们通常位于看似毫无意义的污垢中，有时甚至肉眼看不见。因此，粗心的清洁不可避免地会导致这些痕迹的无意丢失，从而对后续调查产生负面影响。出于这些原因，在进行清洁之前，必须进行详尽的检查和取样。特别是软组织的碎片，即使已经腐烂，也绝对不应被视为法医目的的障碍，因为它们在经过组织学检查后仍可能提供有价值的信息。最后，有远见的专业人员应该考虑可能存在的外来微观痕迹，并收集样本进行深入分析，例如扫描电子显微镜结合能量色散 X 射线光谱法 (SEM/EDX)。本系列案例表明，通过分析看似无意义的残留物，甚至是肉眼看不见且与琐碎污垢混合的微观痕迹，可以获得关键的法医信息。
