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Publication
Wormian bone or gunshot entry wound? – The complexity of forensic anthropology
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Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
Along sutural lines is common to find wormian bones or extrasutural ossicles. These are extra, small and
irregular bones. The entry wound of a projectile is usually circular, small and beveled internally. Despite the
differences between the two, it can sometimes be tricky to distinguish between a wormian bone and a gunshot
entry wound.
The present case shows the complexity in the differentiation between the two. A calvaria that belongs to a
collection of 38 identified calvarias with bone trauma, housed at the Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic
Sciences (INMLCF, I.P.) South Delegation, in Lisbon, was analyzed. For this calvaria, which belongs to an adult
male who died in 1921, the autopsy report and cause of death were available. The calvaria has a wormian
bone on the left L1 and, on the right L1, an absence of bone with the same shape and size as the wormian
bone on the opposite side.
In a first analysis it was considered that the absence of bone was due to the fall of the wormian bone,
however, after a closer inspection it was verified that the orifice presented characteristics of an entry gunshot
wound. When analyzed the autopsy report, it was found that we were actually standing in front of a
gunshot entry wound that occurred in the same place where there was a wormian bone.
Hence, this case shows an example of the complexity of trauma that we may came across in forensic anthropology
and the need for a careful analysis of all injuries, as well as the interaction between forensic anthropology
and forensic pathology.
Description
Poster apresentado na reunião científica : FASE – Forensic Anthropology Society of Europe Advanced Course in Forensic Anthropology and One-Day Symposium. 12 e 14 de setembro 2019, Bruxelas, Bélgica
Keywords
Antropologia Forense Fraturas Cranianas Arma de Fogo Forensic Anthropology Skull fractures Gunshot