Projectile Injury

MDCT is an effective imaging technique to localize gunshot wound tracks and aid in the forensic autopsy of gunshot wound victims [1–3]. Projectiles include a diverse group of metallic objects such as bullets, components of explosive devices, or secondary projectiles from explosions that may inflict injury or cause death. In the forensic investigation of death by suspected projectile injury, determination of the projectile’s entry and exit locations, path, and associated tissue injury is important in the determination of the cause and manner of death [4, 5]. The purpose of this article is to illustrate the noninvasive characterization of projectile wounds on postmortem full-body, thinsection MDCT images. In all cases, imaging was performed on a 16-MDCT scanner. Images were interpreted using multiplanar 2D reconstruction, minimum intensity projection, and 3D volume rendering to critically and accurately analyze the 3D paths and features of projectile injury. The study was performed with the approval of the institutional review board of the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology and was HIPAA-compliant. Total-body MDCT...