Cristiana Palmela Pereira

In the past decade there has been a considerable increase in the number of unaccompanied asylum seeking children, many of whom appeared to be older than their given age. Dental age assessment has been included as part of the asylum seeking process in Portugal since the Law n. o 27/2008 dated 30 June (the “Asylum Law”). The legal framework of the forensic examination is based in biomedical ethics. The aim is to find the frequency of unaccompanied asylum seeking children with dental evidence of being older 18 years during the period between 2009 and 2013. In this period age estimations have been performed on 82 unaccompanied asylum seeking children whose given ages were queried by the Aliens and Bored Service – SEF, to the South Branch of National Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences from Portugal. The dental development was studied on ortopantomograpic radiographs and the developing teeth staged from the tables according to Liversidge (2008), Mincer et al. (1993), Kullma...

Introduction: The ability to determine sex from unknown skeletal remains vital, and methods to do it on various bones of the human skeleton have been researched extensively. The present work consists in the analysis of coxal bones belonging to the victims of the 1755 Lisbon’s Earthquake. Aims: This project aims the characterization of the population whose skeletal remains were found in the Cloister’s South Wing of Academia das Ciencias de Lisboa in 2004. Materials and Methods: In order to achieve the final objective, six measurements were taken, in anatomic position, and seven indices were calculated. Furthermore, morphological characteristics were observed through four different methods. These procedures were applied to a total number of 129 coxal bones. Results: From measurements and indices, the best results found were 16 females and 5 males, but the overall results were not reliable, since there was no consensus between the different measurements and so the majority of the coxal...

The main purpose of this work is to investigate the application of dental morphological features as a potential qualitative method of sex classification in medico-legal identification. The classification of 16 non-metric dental traits was performed by ASUDAS (Arizona State University Dental Anthropology System) method. The traits displayed exclusively by the crowns of permanent teeth were analyzed on dental casts of a Portuguese population sample consisting of 53 male and 57 female individuals. No significant differences (p<0.05) were found between males and females for all investigated traits, except for the dental tubercle of tooth 13, for the metaconule of tooth 27 and the canine distal accessory ridge of teeth 33 and 43. Based on the method applied, tooth 43 has proven to be the most dimorphic among the Portuguese population. Further, a gender classification model using significant different traits between both sexes of the teeth 13, 27 and 43 was developed, and it proved to ...

Introduction: In Forensic Medicine, the estimation of the stature often has a crucial role in the reconstructive phase of disjointed populations. The femur, being the longest bone in the human body, is usually the most reliable source in height estimation. However, in these populations, intact femurs are hardly ever found, making it necessary to use femur fragments for the same purpose. Aim: This investigation aims to estimate the stature of the catastrophic population concerning the earthquake that occurred in Lisbon, in 1755. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted on 8 whole femurs and 21 fragments, which were measured and weighted. These measurements were applied in a regression formula, obtained from the gathered research, in order to estimate the stature of the population. Results: The results showed that, for the whole femur, the correspondent height varies between 147.96 cm and 168.82 cm. For the fragments, the obtained estimates vary between 151,96 cm and 174.96 cm. ...

The purpose of this study was to identify the type of orofacial injuries/sequelae found in reports of Clinical Forensic of South Branch from the Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences (INMLCF, I.P.), in Portugal, between 2005 and 2009, based on Civil, Criminal and Labor Law. The final objectives were, determine: (1) the most frequent types of trauma, (2) the orofacial areas most affected, (3) the prevalence of orofacial lesions/sequelae, (4) the average number of disabilities evaluated or period of illness from those, based on Civil, Criminal and Labor Law. This retrospective study was conducted entirely in Clinical Forensic of South Branch from INMLCF, I.P. The target population consisted of the victims of preliminary, interlayer and final reports of the clinical forensic procedures carried out between 2005 and 2009. The population sample comprised a total of 1422 victims of both sexes, without restriction of age, of whom 232 had suffered some type of orofacial injury. A...

The main purpose of this work is to investigate the application of dental morphological features as a potential qualitative method of sex classification in medico-legal identification. The classification of 16 non-metric dental traits was performed by ASUDAS (Arizona State University Dental Anthropology System) method. The traits displayed exclusively by the crowns of permanent teeth were analyzed on dental casts of a Portuguese population sample consisting of 53 male and 57 female individuals. No significant differences (p<0.05) were found between males and females for all investigated traits, except for the dental tubercle of tooth 13, for the metaconule of tooth 27 and the canine distal accessory ridge of teeth 33 and 43. Based on the method applied, tooth 43 has proven to be the most dimorphic among the Portuguese population. Further, a gender classification model using significant different traits between both sexes of the teeth 13, 27 and 43 was developed, and it proved to ...

Dental morphology is treated differently by different researchers. Some authors consider tooth size alone, whereas others take the shape of the tooth into account. We distinguish size from morphology because the methods of study, as well as the underlying principles for each one are distinct. Although P e r e i r a e t a l . O R I G I N A L S C I E N T I F I C P A P E R Bull Int Assoc Paleodont. Volume 6, Number 1, 2012 www.paleodontology.com 13 morphology and shape have more in common than morphology and size, shape also shows noteworthy differences. Methods developed for ascertaining “tooth shape” for dental anthropological and forensic purposes have not been adopted widely, partly because they are difficult to replicate, which diminishes their utility in comparative studies. In this investigation, we focus on what forensic experts refer to as dental morphology; that is, distinct features or traits of the crowns and roots that are present or absent and, when present, exhibit varia...

OBJECTIVES The aim of this study is to estimate the cut-off points for the Portuguese legal ages through the I3M, and to compare them with the methods of Demirjian, Nolla and Moorrees. DESIGN The lower third molars were analyzed on 348 orthopantomography's aged between 12 and 23 years in a Portuguese Population. The images were analyzed by ImageJ and the cut-off points were calculated for the respective legal ages of 14, 16, 18 and 21 years old. RESULTS The correlation between age and the I3M was 0.862, whereas with Demirjian's stadiums, Nolla's stages, and Moorrees' stages the correlation coefficients were 0.863, 0.842 and 0.844, respectively. For the cut-off point of 0.08 for the age of 18, a sensitivity of 78.99 %, specificity of 93.48 %, an accuracy of 88.54 %, a positive predictive value of 86.24 % and a posteriori Bayes probability of 92.82 %. The cut-off points established for the ages of 14, 16, 18 and 21 years for the Portuguese population achieved an accura...

Este estudo pretendeu identificar o tipo de lesoes/sequelas oro-faciais constantes dos relatorios medico-legais da Clinica Forense da Delegacao do Sul do Instituto Nacional de Medicina Legal e Ciencias Forenses, INMLCF, I.P., entre 2005 e 2009, em sede de Direito Civil, Penal e de Trabalho. Os objetivos finais foram determinar: (1) os tipos de traumatismo mais frequentes, (2) as areas oro-faciais mais afetadas, (3) as lesoes/sequelas oro-faciais mais prevalentes, (4) a media das varias incapacidades avaliadas, ou, do periodo de doenca decorrentes destas, em sede de Direito Civil, Penal e Trabalho. Este estudo retrospetivo foi inteiramente realizado na Clinica Forense da Delegacao do Sul do INMLCF, I.P. A populacao alvo consistiu nos examinados constantes dos relatorios preliminares, intercalares e finais dos processos clinicos forenses realizados entre 2005 e 2009. A amostra populacional compreendeu um total de 1422 individuos, de ambos os sexos, sem restricao de idades, dos quais 2...

Fire investigation involves the examination of all fire-related incidents once firefighters have extinguished the fire. The practice is similar to the examination of crime scenes in that the scene must be preserved and evidence collected and analyzed, but with numerous additional difficulties and dangers. The primary purposes of a fire investigation is to establish the origin (seat) of the fire, the temperature of the fire, determine the likely cause, and thus conclude whether the incident was accidental, natural or deliberate. In December 2012, the body of 89-year-old woman was discovered in her Portugal home by a member of her family. Actually, only part of the body woman's, the legs were found. The rest of her body had been burned to ashes without scientific criteria to identify her. A hole in the kitchen floor and roof was the only evidence of the fire that had killed her; the rest of the house remained perfectly intact. The first hypothesis when the crime scene investigator...

Objective Better understanding of dental age assessment may help in cases of age estimation in Forensic Clinics. The first aim was to provide essential information on method reliability for upcoming studies using dental age assessment by second molar index (I2M), and third molar index (I3M) for age estimation on legal ages of 12 - 14 years. The second aim was to document forensic method outcomes of the Demirjian method which has already been used in forensic clinic. Material and Methods Two samples were used for this purpose: for I2M, 633 orthopantomographs (270 females / 363 males), the age range from 7 to 17 years and for I3M, 471 orthopantomographs (253 females / 218 males), the age range from 10 to 23 years, from the database population of Lisbon North University Hospital Center, approved by the Ethic Committee. Results The I3M cut-off point (1.133) for 12- year- olds obtained better results than the cut-off point stated by the I2M (0.135). Besides, I2M cut-off point (0.001) for...

The goal of this project is to validate the Cameriere's method applied to the upper and lower second premolars in a Portuguese population, regarding the forensic estimate of age. The applied sample consisted in 100 panoramic radiographs, of 60 males and 40 females, patients of the Faculty of Dental Medicine of the University of Lisbon, whose ages vary between 15 and 35 years old. Thus, a total of 400 teeth were investigated (200 upper second premolars and 200 lower second premolars). Each radiograph was analysed using draw and measurement tools featured in Adobe Photoshop, applying the Cameriere's method, and then the pulp/tooth ratio was computed for the 15, 25, 35 and 45 teeth. All data were statistically analysed with the SPSS program, using a significant level of 5%. It was not observed any kind of relation, linear or not linear, between age and the pulp/tooth ratio. Linear regressions with considerably low values for the coefficient of determination were achieved, which indicates a low reliability for these models. Accordingly, we conclude that the knowledge of the pulp/tooth ratio does not allow the identification of an individual based on the Cameriere's method, in the scope of a forensic age estimate applied to panoramic radiograph. Further investigations with larger samples and broader age groups are required in order to provide suitable evidence to the legal and social aspects of age estimate in Forensic Dentistry.

Chronological age estimation from the dental parameters is becoming increasingly important. The London atlas of tooth development is the most recent developed method and represents a modification of the previous older methods. The aim of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of the London atlas for the dental age estimation in the Portuguese population. The study sample included 736 radiographic images (498 females and 238 males) of Portuguese origin, patients of Dental Clinic of Superior Institute of Health Sciences Egas Moniz and Dental Medicine Faculty, University of Lisbon. The age range of the individuals was between 3 and 24 years. Estimated age was compared with the chronological age using the paired t-test. The results showed that there was no statistically significant difference between left and right side of the jaw (p>0.05). Both sides showed an average overestimation of age by one month approximately. Moreover, the significant difference between chronological and estimated age was not observed in the females. However, the significant difference was observed in a sample coming from males (right: p=0.008; left: p=0.003). Our results showed that the London atlas can be potentially used as a tool for age estimation. However, the difference between sexes clearly suggests that separate charts should be made for each sex. Further studies, which will have as a final goal the development of a new method for age estimation using dental parameters, are needed.

Morte por suicídio 49 Introdução 49 Enquadramento conceptual 50 Suicídio 50 Ideação suicida 51 Tentativa de suicídio 51 Para-suicídio 52 Considerações estatísticas sobre o suicídio 52 Indícios e fatores de risco de suicídio 54 Cartas de despedida 55 Identificação médico-legal 56 A importância da identificação médico-legal em casos de morte por suicídio: aspetos introdutórios 56 Diagnóstico diferencial 61 Datação de um cadáver 61 Determinação dos fatores genéricos de identificação 65 Estimativa de “raça” ou afinidade populacional 65 Diagnose sexual 67 Estimativa da idade 71 Estimativa da estatura 73 Determinados fatores de individualização 75 Metodologia de autópsia oral num presumível caso de morte por suicídio: identificação por parâmetros dentários individualizantes de um cadáver desconhecido 82 Conclusão do processo dos formulários F 85 Investigação criminal 86 As particularidades do exame ao local do incidente: a visão prática de um criminalista do ato suicida 86 Conclusão 91 Re...

The positive identification of skeletal by individual dental parameters is one of the objectives of the criminal investigation. The intervention of Forensic Dentistry in some circumstances may represent the only way to obtaining a positive identification of an unidentified bodies. The teeth constitute a scientific method in forensic identification, principally due to the great resistance to the agents who provoke the destruction of the soft tissues in the corpses (putrefaction, traumatic, physical and chemical agents) and to the high morphological variability of the human teeth. The human identification in Forensic Dentistry is made by two ways: comparative and reconstructive. The identification allows to determine several parameters of forensic interest: specimen, population affinity, sex, age, stature and individualization's factors. The Forensic Dentistry is one of the most important fields in individual identification, because teeth have less variability in the chronology of events in terms of the reconstructive way. On the other side, in terms of the comparative way, this area is also important, because of the individualization's factors: positive identification in individual cases and in mass disasters. In this forensic case report, a homicide case, the objective of the medico-legal investigation was a positive identification of the unidentified corpse found one year after the crime, July 2010. The Portuguese Criminal Police of Lisbon, Homicide Group, requested to South Branch of the Portuguese National Institute of Forensic Medicine, a forensic examination by a Forensic Odontologist for dental positive identification. The objectives were: 1) post mortem reconstruction of the dental status of the victim; 2) obtain the ante mortem information of the presumable victims; 3) comparison of the post mortem information with the ante mortem information, for a positive identification of the presumable homicide victim. in this field of dental investigation, the guidelines of the International Organization of Forensic Odontology were used for reconstruction of the post mortem dental profile, to register ante mortem information of the presumable victims and to compared for individualized dental factors, by using Interpol DVI Forms for Individual Case, post mortem and ante mortem forms F1 and F2. the unidentified victim of homicide was positive identified where it was established the identity by more than 12 individual dental characteristics. the Forensic Dentistry is a very important and simple field for individual identification of unidentified corpses for application of the criminal law.

We investigate the accuracy of odontometric methods in sex determination, using a sample from the Portuguese population. Measurements were made on dental casts using a digital caliper, and various odontometric indexes have been defined using upper incisor and canine teeth. Comparison of the means in both sexes was performed using Student's t-test. Significant differences (p<0.05) were found in all variables except for the "Incisor Index". The canine showed the greatest sexual discriminant characteristics. In the presence of one or both canines the distobuccal-mesiolingual crown diameter and the "Robustness…