High‐quality Digital 3D Reconstruction of Microscopic Findings in Forensic Pathology: The Terminal Pathway of a Heart Stab Wound*

Abstract

High‐quality digital three‐dimensional (3D) reconstructions of microscopic findings have been used in anatomical and histopathologic research, but their use in forensic pathology may also be of interest. This paper presents an application of these methods to better characterize the pathway of a stab wound of the anterior surface of the heart in a case of suicide. A portion of the heart wall including the stab wound was serially sectioned for microscopic analysis along the full extent of the wound. Histologic sections were digitally acquired, and a 3D reconstruction was created with ImageJ software for 3D computer graphics. This showed a full‐thickness wound path extending to the endocardial surface of the left ventricle, curvilinear in appearance. After correction for shrinkage, 3D reconstruction allowed estimation of the dimensions of the myocardial injury and comparison of the appearance of the wound with the suspected knife used. The curvilinear appearance was considered to reflect injury during myocardial contraction. Complete microscopic sectioning and 3D reconstruction may allow virtual sectioning through various orientations and also provide useful forensic information for selected injuries.

Infrapatellar Fat Pad-Synovial Membrane Anatomo-Fuctional Unit: Microscopic Basis for Piezo1/2 Mechanosensors Involvement in Osteoarthritis Pain

“…Photomicrographs were acquired under a Leica DM4500B microscope (Leica Microsystems) connected to a Leica DFC320 high-resolution digital camera (Leica Microsystems). Image processing was performed through softwares for image acquisition (QWin, Leica Microsystems) and analysis (ImageJ), as previously reported ( Porzionato et al, 2020 ; Emmi et al, 2021 ) ( Figure 1 ).…”

“…Image processing was performed through softwares for image acquisition (QWin, Leica Microsystems) and analysis (ImageJ), as previously reported (Porzionato et al, 2020;Emmi et al, 2021) (Figure 1).…”

3D Reconstruction of the Morpho-Functional Topography of the Human Vagal Trigone

“…Furthermore, previous studies have examined the role of the STN in acute heart failure (De Caro et al, 2000), which is anatomically located in a watershed zone that represents the last meadow (i.e., the periphery of a vascular territory vulnerable to low blood perfusion) in the case of sudden fall of the systemic blood flow due to acute heart failure. The STN and the DMNV have also received significant interest in COVID-19 research (Porzionato et al, 2020c), with particular regard to viral neurotropism. Considering the anatomical, clinical, and surgical relevance of these structures, and their peculiar organization in the human brainstem, detailed anatomo-topographical definition may represent a reference basis for further applied and clinical research, as demonstrated for other neuroanatomical structures (Emmi et al, 2020).…”

Topography and distribution of adenosine A2A and dopamine D2 receptors in the human Subthalamic Nucleus

“…Paraffin-embedded samples were serially sectioned at 5-micron thickness using a calibrated sliding microtome. Specimen tissue quality and general histopathology was evaluated on Haematoxylin & Eosin stained sections ( Porzionato et al, 2020 ). A fraction of 1/30 serial slides, for an average of 20 ± 2 slides per subject, were employed for immunoperoxidase and immunofluorescent staining.…”