Background: Arson can be very destructive on human tissues and is in fact used as an attempt to destroy a corpse and to hinder identification or signs of trauma. If characteristic features of blunt and gunshot lesions on fresh bone are well-known, in cases of charred remains the challenge of a pathologist becomes tougher. Hence, can trauma features be reliable even in case of charred remains? And what kind of alterations do they undergo? Method: Two kinds of lesions were created in two groups of bovine skeletonized ribs: nine samples were hit with a hammer creating blunt force lesions, while each of the other eleven samples underwent a shooting test creating a gunshot wound. Then, in order to simulate severe combustion, a charring cycle in an oven led to the complete calcination of the samples. Patterns and metric parameters of every bone fracture were recorded and compared before and after carbonization, in order to evaluate the effect of heat, such as the appearance of new fractures (heat-fractures) or significant modifications of pre-existing fractures.Results: First of all, Student’s t-test and ANOVA tests clearly demonstrated how heat can effectively affect fracture features and new fracture formation on bone in both groups; in the case of blunt force fractures heat affected the dimensions of fractures in an unpredictable manner, whereas in the case of gunshot lesions heat definitely caused an increase in the length of radial fractures. Secondly, in the shot samples the number of new fractures (heat-related) is significantly higher, most of which radiating from the entry wound but some also longitudinal and transverse. Conclusion: The highest number and type of fractures in shot samples could be due to the weakness of the bone, in the sense that the fullthickness of the gunshot wound makes the bone weaker than in the case of blunt force lesions, where the lesion is only depressed. In case of gunshot wounds heat can reliably yield an increase in the fracture length, while this cannot be surely stated with blunt force fractures. Thus, morphological and metric alterations of fractures related to trauma and the appearance of new heat-related fractures must be taken in serious consideration when a pathologist has to deal with charred remains.
Patterns of traumatic and heat-related fractures of blunt forces and gunhsot lesions on cremated bone
Alberto Amadasi;
2012
Abstract
Background: Arson can be very destructive on human tissues and is in fact used as an attempt to destroy a corpse and to hinder identification or signs of trauma. If characteristic features of blunt and gunshot lesions on fresh bone are well-known, in cases of charred remains the challenge of a pathologist becomes tougher. Hence, can trauma features be reliable even in case of charred remains? And what kind of alterations do they undergo? Method: Two kinds of lesions were created in two groups of bovine skeletonized ribs: nine samples were hit with a hammer creating blunt force lesions, while each of the other eleven samples underwent a shooting test creating a gunshot wound. Then, in order to simulate severe combustion, a charring cycle in an oven led to the complete calcination of the samples. Patterns and metric parameters of every bone fracture were recorded and compared before and after carbonization, in order to evaluate the effect of heat, such as the appearance of new fractures (heat-fractures) or significant modifications of pre-existing fractures.Results: First of all, Student’s t-test and ANOVA tests clearly demonstrated how heat can effectively affect fracture features and new fracture formation on bone in both groups; in the case of blunt force fractures heat affected the dimensions of fractures in an unpredictable manner, whereas in the case of gunshot lesions heat definitely caused an increase in the length of radial fractures. Secondly, in the shot samples the number of new fractures (heat-related) is significantly higher, most of which radiating from the entry wound but some also longitudinal and transverse. Conclusion: The highest number and type of fractures in shot samples could be due to the weakness of the bone, in the sense that the fullthickness of the gunshot wound makes the bone weaker than in the case of blunt force lesions, where the lesion is only depressed. In case of gunshot wounds heat can reliably yield an increase in the fracture length, while this cannot be surely stated with blunt force fractures. Thus, morphological and metric alterations of fractures related to trauma and the appearance of new heat-related fractures must be taken in serious consideration when a pathologist has to deal with charred remains.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
