The forensic radiographer: a new member in the medicolegal team

Multidetector computed tomography is becoming more widespread in forensic medicine. In most services, autopsy assistants perform the radiological examination. We introduced professional radiographers into the legal medicine service and hypothesized they would also be able to take over duties currently reserved for other specialists. The aims of this study were to evaluate if radiographers could be trained as "forensic radiographers" by (1) integrating graduated medical radiographers into the legal medicine service, (2) investigating the advantages of this collaboration, and (3) defining the duties of the forensic radiographers.The study was performed prospectively on a group of 8 recruited radiographers who underwent a testing period with special training. They learned the basics of medicolegal case treatment, the autonomous execution of postmortem computed tomography angiography, and postprocessing of data. Seven of 8 radiographers finished the training and were integrated into our service. Although all radiographers were able to fulfill the duties demanded after the training period, some radiographers could not enter or complete the program because they were unable to work with dead bodies.Our study presents the advantages of integrating radiographers into the medicolegal team and proposes how to train the forensic radiographers. In addition, the duties and responsibilities of these new specialists are defined.     

Postmortem gastrointestinal ruptures in burn cadavers

The report informs on ruptures within the area of the gastro-intestinal tract of two siblings (2 and 3 years of age) that were fatally burned in their apartment. The ruptures are obviously pointing to an "explosive-like" evaporation of the watery part of the gastro-intestinal contents under the influence of the heat, at impeded pressure balance through shrinking of the esophagus caused by the heat in the upper area and the closure of the pylorus. Of significance here is surely also the shrinking of the gastro-intestinal wall caused by the heat and the thin abdominal walls which were not likely to have acted as "heat insulators". These findings are a supplement to the burn hematoma of the stomach as described by Berg and Schumann (1985).