The big challenge of determining the vitality of perimortem trauma in Forensic Anthropology. A histopathological and immunohistochemical investigation (HistoBreak)

The analysis of perimortem trauma for the clarification of the cause and circumstances of death of deceased individuals has a key role in forensic investigations. However nowadays, determining the vitality of the lesion on badly preserved cadavers or skeletal remains, as might happen in the contexts of forensic anthropology, still suffers from poor reliability. In this research project we propose the application of histopathological and immunohistochemical analysis in bone tissue to establish vitality of perimortem injuries on human bone fractures. The applicability of this research is fundamental in contexts of armed conflicts, human rights violations and crimes against humanity. In most of these situations, the victims have been illegally buried in clandestine mass graves, and exhumations after armed conflicts are more common since investigations into war crimes are becoming more demanded. It happens in our country with the exhumation of bodies from mass graves dating back to the Spanish Civil War and that is a current issue at the political, judicial and media levels. In these contexts, research such as the one we propose in the HISTOBREAK project, is needed for the purpose of criminal investigations (determining vitality and correlation to the cause of the death, expressing a technical judgment on possible repeated violent events before or around death, etc). The researchers of HISTOBREAK project make up an interdisciplinary team including several national and international institutions (UVIC-UCC, UAB, UB, IMLCFC, Althaia, Cranfield Forensic Institute, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology), that joins efforts and expertise to extend knowledge on this crucial issue in Forensic Anthropology, Forensic Sciences and Legal Medicine.