International Journal of Legal Medicine OnlineFirst articles

Open Access 09.04.2024 | Original Article

External post-mortem examination in virtual reality—scalability of a monocentric application

Conducting external post-mortem examinations is an essential skill required of physicians in various countries, regardless of their specialization. However, the quality of these examinations has been a subject of continuous debates, and notable …

verfasst von:: Christina Klus, Katja Krumm, Sindy Jacobi, Marie-Christin Willemer, Charlotte Daub, Dietrich Stoevesandt, Katrin Metzler, Carolin Richter, Lisa-Maria Peter, Steffen Heide, Uwe Schmidt

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Open Access 08.04.2024 | Original Article

Prediction model for anabolic androgenic steroid positivity in forensic autopsy cases – a new tool to the autopsy room

Non-prescription use of anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS) is associated with an increased risk of premature death. However, these substances are seldom screened in connection with forensic cause-of-death investigation, unless the forensic …

verfasst von:: Paula Vauhkonen, Petteri Oura, Pirkko Kriikku, Katarina Lindroos, Mikko Ilari Mäyränpää

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Open Access 03.04.2024 | Original Article

Development of a protocol for standardized use of a water-soluble contrast agent with polyethylene glycol in post-mortem CT angiography

Computed tomography angiography (PMCTA) is increasingly used in postmortem cases. Standardized validated protocols permit to compare different PMCTA images and make it more easily to defend a case in court. In addition to the well-known technique …

verfasst von:: G. M. Bruch, S. Grabherr, C. Bruguier, F. T. Fischer, R. Soto, V. Magnin, P. Genet

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Open Access 03.04.2024 | Original Article

Skin simulants for wound ballistic investigation – an experimental study

Gunshot wound analysis is an important part of medicolegal practice, in both autopsies and examinations of living persons. Well-established and studied simulants exist that exhibit both physical and biomechanical properties of soft-tissues and …

verfasst von:: Victoria K. S. Fischer, Markus A. Rothschild, Beat P. Kneubuehl, Thomas Kamphausen

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Open Access 02.04.2024 | Original Article

Longitudinal visibility of MRI findings in living victims of strangulation

Initial experiences with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of living strangulation victims demonstrated additional findings of internal injuries compared to the standard clinical forensic examination. However, existing studies on the use of MRI for …

verfasst von:: Melanie Bauer, Christina Hollenstein, Johanna Maria Lieb, Sabine Grassegger, Tanja Haas, Laura Egloff, Celine Berger, Eva Scheurer, Claudia Lenz

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Open Access 01.04.2024 | Letter to the Editor

A critical review of “Artificial intelligence in the practice of forensic medicine: a scoping review”

verfasst von:: Benjamin Ondruschka, Dragana Seifert, Natalie Rotermund, Anselm Fehnker

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Open Access 28.03.2024 | Original Article

Prosecuting cases of abusive head trauma in Switzerland: a descriptive study of the impact of medical documentation and delay of reporting on judicial outcome

Abusive head trauma (AHT) is a criminal offence that is prosecuted ex officio, following report to the police from physicians or child protection services. The aim of this study was to assess whether the judicial outcome (dismissal vs indictment) …

verfasst von:: Sarah Held, Jean-Jacques Cheseaux, Jean-François Tolsa, Sarah Depallens

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28.03.2024 | Original Article

Dental age assessment and dental scoring systems: combined different statistical methods

Age Estimation has been considered as a human basic right since 1837 when Edwin Saunders defends, for the first time, tables for dental age assessment based on the chronology of tooth eruption [ 1 ]. Nowadays, the rights of a child, as defined by …

verfasst von:: Cristiana Palmela Pereira, Ana Rodrigues, Diana Augusto, Adriana Santos, Valon Nushic, Rui Santos

27.03.2024 | Original Article

Development of a screening system of gene sets for estimating the time of early skeletal muscle injury based on second-generation sequencing technology

The present study is aimed to address the challenge of wound age estimation in forensic science by identifying reliable genetic markers using low-cost and high-precision second-generation sequencing technology. A total of 54 Sprague-Dawley rats …

verfasst von:: Junyi Shen, Hao Sun, Shidong Zhou, Liangliang Wang, Chaoxiu Dong, Kang Ren, Qiuxiang Du, Jie Cao, Yingyuan Wang, Junhong Sun

26.03.2024 | Original Article

Prioritizing a high posterior probability threshold leading to low error rate over high classification accuracy: the validity of MorphoPASSE software for cranial morphological sex estimation in a contemporary population

An increasing number of software tools can be used in forensic anthropology to estimate a biological profile, but further studies in other populations are required for more robust validation. The present study aimed to evaluate the validity of …

verfasst von:: Anežka Pilmann Kotěrová, Frédéric Santos, Šárka Bejdová, Rebeka Rmoutilová, MennattAllah Hassan Attia, Ahmed Habiba, Jana Velemínská, Jaroslav Brůžek

23.03.2024 | Original Article

Immunohistochemical analysis of PDGFR-α for wound age determination

Immunohistochemical analysis of platelet-derived growth factor receptor-α (PDGFR-α) was performed on human skin wounds obtained from forensic autopsy cases. Thirty human skin wounds were collected at different post-infliction intervals as follows: …

verfasst von:: Wei Zhang, Yuko Ishida, Mizuho Nosaka, Yumi Kuninaka, Akiko Ishigami, Haruki Yasuda, Ayumi Kofuna, Ten Kamata, Utako Goto, Toshikazu Kondo

Open Access 23.03.2024 | Original Article

New alginate-gelatine method for casting of staining inside firearm barrels

Contact shots to the head often leave behind biological traces inside firearm barrels, a phenomenon of great forensic interest. Until now, the visualization and preservation of these traces presented a significant challenge, lacking a reliable …

verfasst von:: Christian Schyma, Matthias Berthold

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20.03.2024 | Letter to the Editor

Commentary on Stigter H, Krap T, Gelderman T, Dijkhuizen L, Duijst WLJM. Technical note: practical application of post-mortem mechanical stimulation of skeletal muscle, a field study

verfasst von:: Burkhard Madea, Elke Doberentz

Open Access 20.03.2024 | Original Article

Evaluation of the usefulness of insertion-null markers in critical skeletal remains

Forensic DNA analysis in compromised skeletal remains may pose challenges due to DNA degradation, often resulting in partial or negative autosomal STRs profiles. To address this issue, alternative approaches such as mitochondrial DNA or SNPs …

verfasst von:: Christian Haarkötter, María Saiz, Xiomara Gálvez, Diana C. Vinueza-Espinosa, María Isabel Medina-Lozano, Juan Carlos Álvarez, Jose Antonio Lorente

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16.03.2024 | Original Article

From degraded to deciphered: ATAC-seq’s application potential in forensic diagnosis

In recent years, molecular biology-based diagnostic techniques have made remarkable strides and are now extensively utilized in clinical practice, providing invaluable insights for disease diagnosis and treatment. However, forensic medicine …

verfasst von:: Manrui Li, Yuntian Jin, Yang Xu, Yihan Sun, Ruixuan Yuan, Xiao Zhang, Shengqiu Qu, Meili Lv, Miao Liao, Weibo Liang, Lin Zhang, Xiameng Chen

12.03.2024 | Review

Advances in body fluid identification: MiRNA markers as powerful tool

Body fluids are one of the most encountered types of evidence in any crime and are commonly used for identifying a person’s identity. In addition to these, they are also useful in ascertaining the nature of crime by determining the ty pe of fluid …

verfasst von:: Mohd Hamza, Deeksha Sankhyan, Saurabh Shukla, Preeti Pandey

Open Access 12.03.2024 | Original Article

Automatic and robust estimation of sex and chronological age from panoramic radiographs using a multi-task deep learning network: a study on a South Korean population

Sex and chronological age estimation are crucial in forensic investigations and research on individual identification. Although manual methods for sex and age estimation have been proposed, these processes are labor-intensive, time-consuming, and …

verfasst von:: Se-Jin Park, Su Yang, Jun-Min Kim, Ju-Hee Kang, Jo-Eun Kim, Kyung-Hoe Huh, Sam-Sun Lee, Won-Jin Yi, Min-Suk Heo

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Open Access 08.03.2024 | Original Article

Catch me if you can—emission patterns of human bodies in relation to postmortem changes

The present study examines for the first time the emission patterns and olfactory signatures of 9 complete human corpses of different stages of decomposition. Air sampling was performed inside the body bags with solid sorbents and analysed by …

verfasst von:: Alexandra Schieweck, Nicole Schulz, Jens Amendt, Christoph Birngruber, Franziska Holz

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05.03.2024 | Case Report

Identification of a murder caused by brodifacoum poisoning based on clinical examinations and LC-MS/MS results

Brodifacoum exerts its antagonistic effect against the metabolism of vitamin K, an essential component in the synthesis of blood coagulation factors. This effect ultimately hinders the blood’s capacity to clot effectively, rendering it a commonly …

verfasst von:: Zhonghao Yu, Erjuan Zhao, Qing Shi, Yuhao Yuan, Jinghong Ma, Luwang Zhou, Yijie Duan, Yiwu Zhou

04.03.2024 | Original Article

Evaluation of metal ions and DNA recovery from the surface of fired and unfired brass ammunition to improve STR profiling

Interest in recovering DNA from the surface of ammunition evidence for genotyping has increased over the past few years. Numerous studies have examined a variety of methods to maximize DNA recovery from these types of challenging samples, but …

verfasst von:: Natalia Czado, Rachel Houston, Sheree Hughes

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