Differentiation between perimortem trauma and heat-induced damage: the use of perimortem traits on burnt long bones.

Burnt human remains present a difficult interpretative dilemma to forensic pathologists and anthropologists. Distinguishing postmortem damage in long bones as a result of fire damage from perimortem fractures is an important challenge in trauma analysis. During our case investigation of a burnt body from a fiery car crash, distinct perimortem traits on long bone fractures were still distinguishable along the charred areas. Next to timing of fractures and shortening the perimortem time gap suggesting that the fractures occurred when soft tissue was still present, the traits make it possible to distinguish blunt trauma caused by the accident from heat-induced bone damage. Applying this specific perimortem pattern could be an additional macroscopic tool to interpret blunt force trauma more accurately in the analysis of burnt remains.