Virtopsy: CT and MR imaging of a fatal head injury caused by a hatchet: A case report

Received 5 March 2010; received in revised form 13 April 2010; accepted 19 April 2010. published online 24 May 2010.

Abstract

Hatchet blows to the human skull often cause fatal injuries. We present a case of homicide by hatchet blow that underwent CT, MRI, and autopsy examination. Skull fragmentation, fracture lines, and brain injuries were demonstrated prior to autopsy. Many of the hatchet-specific characteristics (flaking, crushing, shattering, and fracture lines) described in literature were observed in the post-mortem imaging of this case.

Keywords: Axe, Hatchet, Fatal head injury, Forensic imaging, Virtopsy

University of Bern, Centre for Forensic Imaging and Virtopsy, Institute of Forensic Medicine, IRM, Buehlstrasse 20, CH 3012 Bern, Switzerland

Corresponding author. Tel.: +41 31 631 84 11; fax: +41 31 631 38 33.

PII: S1344-6223(10)00064-7

doi:10.1016/j.legalmed.2010.04.004

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