Abstract #1056

Identification of Living Victims of Manual Strangulation by MR Imaging of the Neck

Sonja Monika Pivec¹,², Eva Scheurer¹,², Florian Fischer¹,², Gerlinde Komatz³, Zoe Voigt⁴, Magdalena Webhofer⁵, Kathrin Yen⁶, Thomas Ehammer¹

¹Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Clinical-Forensic Imaging, Graz, Austria; ²Medical University Graz, Graz, Austria; ³MRI Institute Private Clinic of the Holy Sisters, Graz, Austria; ⁴Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Science, Charit, Berlin, Germany; ⁵Schn Clinic Harthausen, Clinic for Orthopedic Surgery, Germany; ⁶Institute for Forensic and Traffic Medicine, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany

Victims of manual strangulation often present without any external injury. However, reliable diagnosis of strangulation and objective documentation of lesions are crucial for the criminal proceeding. While the feasibility of MRI of the neck in strangulation victims had already been shown, this study aimed at the evaluation of the diagnostic performance of a native MRI scan using a defined diagnostic scheme. The most frequent findings associated with strangulation were subcutaneous lesions and intramuscular bleedings. Using the diagnostic scheme strangulation was diagnosed with a high sensitivity and specificity. MRI might become an essential tool in the forensic assessment of survived strangulation.