Perspectives in Legal and Forensic Sciences

Guide for Authors Submit to plfs

Forensic Medicine

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 June 2025.

Guest Editor (1)

Jarosław Berent
Prof. Dr. Jarosław Berent 
Department of Forensic Medicine, Medical University of Lodz, 91-304 Lodz, Poland
Interests: Forensic Medicine; Forensic Pathology; Forensic Toxicology
Website: http://forensic.website/

Topic Collection Information

Forum Romanum, the place where the life of ancient Roman society was concentrated, gave its name to the forensic sciences that, while remaining rooted in their basic sciences, have a completely different goal. This goal is to provide expertise with evidential value in various legal proceedings. This goal also refers to forensic medicine, sometimes called legal medicine. It is not to treat the patient but to provide expertise.

It is impossible to indicate a specific date for the emergence of forensic medicine. It is known that medical knowledge was used for forensic purposes already in ancient times. Still, forensic medicine can only be spoken of as a separate academic discipline since the beginning of the 19th century. It surfaced in the process of the gradual emergence of various medical specialties when - along with the development of medical knowledge - it became apparent that grasping the whole thing exceeded the capabilities of one person, and specialization was necessary. As time passed, various subspecialties began to emerge from the originally broad forensic medicine, and this process is still ongoing. Both historically and today, the scope of forensic medicine was and is determined by the law currently in force in a given country. However, two branches are recognized worldwide. These are forensic pathology and clinical forensic medicine.

We invite review, original, and case reports from all areas of forensic medicine to the topic collection on "Forensic Medicine" in our emerging journal Perspectives in Legal and Forensic Sciences. We want to show the current state of knowledge and research possibilities in specific expertise.

Published Papers (2 papers)

Commentary

05 December 2024

Improving Postmortem Dental Profiling: The Integration of Intraoral Scanners in Dental Autopsies

Forensic odontology plays a crucial role in human identification, particularly in cases where traditional identification methods face challenges such as severe trauma, decomposition, skeletonization, or carbonization. The evolution of digital dentistry has significantly advanced dental autopsies, particularly through the use of intraoral scanners (IOSs). These devices provide a non-invasive and efficient method for capturing detailed impressions of dentition and photographic images of teeth. The benefits of intraoral scanning in analyzing human remains in forensic odontology are endless. Digital impressions can be easily stored, shared, and transmitted electronically, eliminating the need for physical storage or transportation of dental models. This technology also enables remote postmortem dental profiling. By combining digital models with antemortem dental records, forensic odontologists can more efficiently identify matches and discrepancies, with the added benefit of future advancements in artificial intelligence(AI). Intraoral scanning should be considered a routine process in all dental autopsies to improve postmortem dental data collection and archive. Forensic odontologists should be equipped with a portable X-ray device, a digital sensor, and an IOS.

Emilio Nuzzolese*

Article

26 February 2025

Autopsies in Poland 1971–2023

Autopsies, depending on their purpose, can be described as forensic or clinical. Both types are intended to determine the cause of death, but their goal is different. For forensic autopsies, this goal is to provide expertise with evidential value in various legal proceedings. For clinical autopsies, they have historically been seen as a tool in the development and investigation of disease processes. The aim of the study was to determine how the percentage of autopsies changed in Poland in the years 1971–2023. Research material was data obtained from the Polish Central Statistical Office. On the basis of this data, we showed changes in the population number, the number of deaths, and the number of autopsies in the indicated period. It was shown that in Poland, the percentage of autopsies in relation to all deaths in the period from 1971 to 2023 (53 years) fell about 4-fold from the initial level of approximately 16% to only approximately 4% now. This downward trend is consistent with the trends in other EU countries.

Anna Smędra*
Jarosław Berent
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