Use of multislice computed tomography in disaster victim identification--advantages and limitations

Sidler, Martin; Jackowski, Christian; Dirnhofer, Richard; Vock, Peter; Thali, Michael (2007). Use of multislice computed tomography in disaster victim identification--advantages and limitations. Forensic science international, 169(2-3), pp. 118-28. Shannon: Elsevier Scientific Publ. Ireland 10.1016/j.forsciint.2006.08.004

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After a mass fatality incident (MFI), all victims have to be rapidly and accurately identified for juridical reasons as well as for the relatives' sake. Since MFIs are often international in scope, Interpol has proposed standard disaster victim identification (DVI) procedures, which have been widely adopted by authorities and forensic experts. This study investigates how postmortem multislice computed tomography (MSCT) can contribute to the DVI process as proposed by Interpol. The Interpol postmortem (PM) form has been analyzed, and a number of items in sections D and E thereof have been postulated to be suitable for documentation by CT data. CT scans have then been performed on forensic cases. Interpretation of the reconstructed images showed that indeed much of the postmortem information required for identification can be gathered from CT data. Further advantages of the proposed approach concern the observer independent documentation, the possibility to reconstruct a variety of images a long time after the event, the possibility to distribute the work by transmitting CT data digitally, and the reduction of time and specialists needed at the disaster site. We conclude that MSCT may be used as a valuable screening tool in DVI in the future.

Item Type:	Journal Article (Original Article)
Division/Institute:	04 Faculty of Medicine > Service Sector > Institute of Legal Medicine > Management 04 Faculty of Medicine > Service Sector > Institute of Legal Medicine
UniBE Contributor:	Jackowski, Christian, Dirnhofer, Richard, Thali, Michael
ISSN:	0379-0738
ISBN:	16997522
Publisher:	Elsevier Scientific Publ. Ireland
Language:	English
Submitter:	Factscience Import
Date Deposited:	04 Oct 2013 14:51
Last Modified:	05 Dec 2022 14:16
Publisher DOI:	10.1016/j.forsciint.2006.08.004
PubMed ID:	16997522
Web of Science ID:	000247696900003
URI:	https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/21621 (FactScience: 8942)