The article presents a case from the practice of the Serpukhov Department of the Bureau of Forensic Medicine, when for the first time on the territory of the Russian Federation in the event of a criminal death of a child from mechanical asphyxiation in a district forensic department, the computed tomography of the corpse was used (virtual autopsy) with subsequent radiological-anatomical comparison of the results.

The article presents a case from the practice of Serpukhov forensic medical department of SBIH MR “Bureau of FME”, when in the case of death of two pilots of a light airplane as a result of an aviation injury the method of computer tomography of corpses (virtual autopsy) was applied, followed by X-ray anatomical comparison of the results.

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.

The article discusses the application of pre-autopsy computed tomography (Virtopsy) for studying the sudden death of an adolescent with undiagnosed Marfan syndrome.Aim. To identify the capabilities of the pre-autopsy computed tomography (CT) in determining the cause of the sudden death of an adolescent, as well as the extent of injuries, if present.Material and methods. A CT scan was obtained at the Department of Diagnostic Radiology of a district hospital using a modern multifunctional CT scanner Siemens SOMATOM Perspective (64-slice configuration, slice width of 1.5 mm).Results. The forensic medical examination revealed the following information about the corpse: asthenic body type, a height of 178 cm, long extremities, thin and long spider-like fingers, pectus excavatum, little fat beneath the skin and poor muscle development; blood in the pericardium, rupture of the dissecting aneurysm of the ascending aorta. The histological examination of the aorta revealed its dramatic thinning, fragmentation of the elastic fibres along with the alteration of the elastic framework, fragmentation and poor development of muscle fibres in the media. A CT scan showed the rupture of the dissecting aneurysm of the ascending thoracic aorta with para-aortic haematoma and cardiac tamponade.Conclusion. The analysis of obtained data allowed us to diagnose a multisystemic disorder of connective tissue (Marfan syndrome) undiagnosed intra vitam. The sudden death was caused by the rupture of the dissecting aneurysm of the ascending aorta which is a complication of the congenital genetic pathology.Intravitam CT or MRI scans of children being at risk of the multisystemic disorder of connective tissue will help detect pathological changes in the aortic wall and perform cardiac surgery promptly which would significantly increase the length of life and improve its quality for such patients.

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