Imaging in emergency radiology: clinical and forensic aspects

Abstract

Radiologists are frequently faced with different clinical situations that may have medico-legal implications. In these cases, Radiology can help document all findings and is, therefore, of great value when medical-legal issues are raised, both in the clinical field and in post-mortem examination. The main objectives of forensic medicine are to document, analyze, and elucidate scientific medical findings in both living and deceased persons in a comprehensible way for courtroom presentation. This work presents several cases in which importance of radiological examination is self-evident. These include: foreign material into the body (body packer, intraabdominal metal splinter, aspiration of a foreign body), professional malpractice (inadequate placement of a catheter, intraabdominal migration of an intrauterine device) or intentional injuries (cranial fracture). Emphasis has been placed on the contribution of the new imaging techniques (Computed tomography, Magnetic resonance) which constitute the basis of the so-called virtopsy