Post-mortem changes of the middle ear: Multislice computed tomography study

Loubes-Lacroix, F.; Costagliola, R.; Guilbeau‐Frugier, Céline; Alengrin, D.; Otal, Philippe; Telmon, Norbert; Joffre, F.; Rougé, Daniel

doi:10.1016/j.forsciint.2007.06.004

Cited by 7 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…Many anatomical parts may be involved: post-mortem changes of the ossicular chain of the middle ear, and axial and appendicular joint disarticulations. 68,91 Owing to the loss of soft tissues and costal cartilages, the ribs, sternum and clavicles may collapse into the chest cavity. The hyoid bone may fall near the spine.…”

Section: Identification Of Lesions On Skeletal Remainsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Virtual anthropology and forensic identification using multidetector CT

Dédouit

Savall²,

Mokrane³

et al. 2014

BJR

100

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Virtual anthropology is made possible by modern cross-sectional imaging. Multislice CT (MSCT) can be used for comparative bone and dental identification, reconstructive identification and lesion identification. Comparative identification, the comparison of ante-and post-mortem imaging data, can be performed on both teeth and bones. Reconstructive identification, a considerable challenge for the radiologist, identifies the deceased by determining sex, geographical origin, stature and age at death. Lesion identification combines virtual autopsy and virtual anthropology. MSCT can be useful in palaeopathology, seeking arthropathy, infection, oral pathology, trauma, tumours, haematological disorders, stress indicators or occupational stress in bones and teeth. We examine some of the possibilities offered by this new radiological subspeciality that adds a new dimension to the work of the forensic radiologist. A multidisciplinary approach is crucial and involves communication and data exchange between radiologists, forensic pathologists, anthropologists and radiographers.Virtual autopsies are currently becoming increasingly common worldwide in forensic medicine.1 Use of multislice CT (MSCT) or multidetector CT (MDCT) before classic medicolegal autopsy gives the forensic pathologist considerable information on injuries and cause of death.2 A recent advance in forensic imaging is post-mortem CT angiography, which yields further information on soft tissues and visceral and vascular injuries. Modern cross-sectional imaging can be used in virtual anthropological studies as well as in virtual autopsy. 4 In biological anthropology, it can be applied to compare bone or dental criteria between species. An important application is forensic anthropology, to obtain positive identification of an unknown decedent. The introduction of imaging in anthropology is of course not new, and many radiographic applications have been already described and published.In virtual anthropology, teeth and bones can be studied by MRI or by MSCT. MRI has numerous applications, 5,6 and it will certainly become an important tool in forensic study of the living, particularly for age assessment. This technique presents many advantages compared with MSCT, and, like ultrasound, it is X-ray free. However, access to MRI in thanatology is currently difficult, mainly because of limited time availability of the machine.The wide range of possibilities offered by MSCT may seem bewildering to a non-radiologist! If an MSCT examination is to give optimal results, many technical conditions must be adhered to in terms of image quality, spatial resolution and contrast. If not, the final images may even be unusable, in particular, for analysis of fine trabecular bone lesions (Figure 1). The initial CTmust be performed with appropriate voltage, amperage, field of view and slice thickness. After acquisition, reconstruction time is critical. Choice of thickness and interval and choice of filters influence voxel size and the possibility of radiological interpretation...

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Section: Identification Of Lesions On Skeletal Remainsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Virtual anthropology and forensic identification using multidetector CT

Dédouit

Savall²,

Mokrane³

et al. 2014

BJR

100

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Its internal structure is commonly found intact in cadaveric remains, even when it has been subjected to considerable trauma, high thermic amplitude, or when it is evaluated many years after death: studies using CT scans indicate that only the ossicular chain suffers severe structural alterations when the ear is filled by soil. 6,7 There are many studies validating the evaluation of osseous structures by radiography or CT scan as methods of post-mortem identification. Of these, the best known are based on an evaluation of the frontal sinus, which presents a confidence level for identification that is similar to a fingerprint.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mastoid, middle ear and inner ear analysis in CT scan – a possible contribution for the identification of remains

Rodrigues¹,

Ramos

Fagundes

et al. 2020

Med Sci Law

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Objective We aimed to evaluate whether the internal structures of the human ear have anatomical characteristics that are sufficiently distinctive to contribute to human identification and use in a forensic context. Materials and methods After data anonymisation, a dataset containing temporal bone CT scans of 100 subjects was processed by a radiologist who was not involved in the study. Four reference images were selected for each subject. Of the original sample, 10 examinations were used for visual comparison, case by case, against the dataset of 100 patients. This visual assessment was performed independently by four observers, who evaluated the anatomical agreement using a Likert scale (1–5). Inter-observer agreement, true positive rate, positive predictive value, true negative rate, negative predictive value, false positive rate, false negative rate and positive likelihood ratio (LR+) were evaluated. Results Inter-observer agreement obtained an overall Cohen’s Kappa = 99.59%. True positive rate, positive predictive value, true negative rate and negative predictive value were all 100%. Conclusion Visual assessment of the mastoid examinations was shown to be a robust and reliable approach to identify unique osseous features and contribute to human identification. The statistical analysis indicates that regardless of the examiner’s background and training, the approach has a high degree of accuracy.

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