2.11. Report on 14 years’ experience in forensic radiology; an overview of more than 1500 cases

Abstract

Objective The number of research publications in forensic radiology increases tremendously. However, well-founded retrospective databases are scarce, which hampers research on large numbers of cases in this field. We present an overview of our forensic radiological database, covering 14 years and including 1540 forensic cases. Material and method 1540 cases were presented by the Netherlands Forensic Institute, to the radiological department of the Groene Hart Hospital between 2000 and 2014. 17% of the cases were living victims, in all other cases a forensic autopsy was designated. In retrospect, information from autopsy and radiology reports, such as patient characteristics, assumed cause of death and imaging modalities, was incorporated in a database. Male female ratio is 2:1, mean age is 35 years (range 0–98). Statistics were performed in SPSS version 20. Results Reported occasions (max. 3 per case) were: violence (383), sharp/blunt weapon (302), strangulation (264), body discovery (143), traffic accidents (142), ballistic trauma (118), submersion (82), sudden infant death (70), airplane crash (30) and excavation (25). In 422 cases other occasions, such as illness or fire were noted. The most reported imaging modalities (max. 3) were: cranial CT (533), total body CT (524), diverse radiographs (481), skeletal X-ray (338) and larynx X-ray (305). Conclusion This annually growing database is the largest and longest-established forensic radiological database in the Netherlands. Due to the clear disaggregation of imaging modalities and cause of death, the database has proven itself to be a useful source for retrospective research in forensic radiology. We encourage scientific collaboration.