Three-dimensional reconstitution of bullet trajectory in gunshot wounds: A case report

• Type: Article in International Scientific Journal
• Date: 2009

Authors

Puentes, K (Author) Other; Taveira, F (Author) Other; Madureira, AJ (Author) Other; Santos A (Author) FMUP; Teresa Magalhães (Author) FMUP

Journal

Title: Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine

Vol. 16

Pages: 407-410

ISSN: 1752-928X

Publisher: Elsevier

Indexing

ISI Web of Knowledge - 16 Citations

Scopus - 22 Citations

Other information

Authenticus ID: P-003-FEV

DOI: 10.1016/j.jflm.2009.04.003

Abstract (EN): In the medico-legal assessment of cases of aggression with firearms, imaging techniques have a particularly important role, especially in the study of a bullet's path through the victim's body. The analysis of these trajectories can be performed by the use of three-dimensional reconstitution techniques, namely Three-Dimensional Multi-Slice Computed Tomography (3D-MSCT). This imaging technique has been widely used in fatal cases, as a very important complement of the classical autopsy procedures, becoming known as "virtual autopsy" or "Virtopsy". To our knowledge, no reports describing the use of 3D-MSCT in nonfatal cases have been described in the medico-legal literature. The authors present a case of a man with a gunshot injury, in the context of a multiple aggressor situation, in which it was not possible to extract the bullet. To accurately determine the bullet's trajectory, 3D-MSCT was performed, thus contributing to a more reliable reconstruction of the crime scene in which the victim and the suspects were located.

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific

No. of pages: 4