POTENTIAL OF THE VIRTUAL AUTOPSY IN CASE OF FIREARM INJURY

The article presents the cases observed in the practice of the Office of medico-legal examinations of the Moscow Region when computed tomography (CT) was used for the first time in Russia for pre-autopsy examination (virtual autopsy) of three corpses with gunshot wounds followed by imaging-anatomical comparison of the results.

Objectives. Determination of the injury volume, visualization of the wound tracts, localization of the bullets.

Material and methods. Computed tomography was performed in radiology department using CT Scanner Hitachi Eclos‑16 (16 slices per rotation, slice thickness 1.5 and 2.0 mm) followed by multi-planar reconstruction of the images.

Results. 3D reconstruction of the CT scans of the corpses has visualized the whole volume of the trauma. Firearm perforating skull fractures, crushing injuries of the brain, injuries of the thoracic and abdominal organs along the wound tracks, bullets at the ends of the blind wound tracks were revealed on CT-scans.

Conclusion. Pre-autopsy CT with 3D-reconstruction has allowed to determine localization of the bullets in the bodies accurately. This allowed to choose the optimal examination tactics in each particular case and provided invaluable assistance in the search for the bullets. Virtopsy in the cases of firearm injury has great diagnostic opportunities in visualization and 3D presentation of the wound tracks and their direction. 3D CT has recorded the original position and characteristics of the skull fractures under the undamaged tissues. The authors made the assumption that a virtual autopsy could be a reliable alternative to traditional autopsy in the foreseeable future in cases of firearm injuries.