Introduction: Forensic radiology is a specialised branch of radiological imaging diagnostics that is multidisciplinary and intricately connected with numerous other fields. Along with forensic radiology, these fields are involved in the identification of unknown bodies, as well as determining the causes of injuries and deaths resulting from criminal acts, natural causes, or other exceptional circumstances. Purpose: The purpose of this diploma thesis is to systematically review various areas of forensic radiology and their application, primarily through foreign literature. We will focus on the following forensic radiological techniques: postmortem computed tomography, postmortem magnetic resonance, postmortem x-ray, postmortem ultrasound, and micro computed tomography, as well as changes to the body after death. Methods: The methodology of the diploma thesis includes the descriptive, compilation, and comparative methods, as well as the systematic literature review method. Research and professional articles on postmortem and forensic radiology were searched for in the following global databases: Web of Science, Ovid MEDLINE, Springer Link, ScienceDirect, and PubMed. The search terms used to find articles and research were in the English language. Results: In the results, we presented and described 30 studies and articles that describe various areas of forensic radiology. These encompass different modes of death as well as various imaging techniques to display them. Most of the results describe postmortem computed tomography. Following it in terms of numbers are postmortem magnetic resonance, conventional autopsy, postmortem x-ray, three dimensional techniques, angiographic examinations, and micro computed tomography. Discussion and conclusion: The findings summarise that conventional autopsy remains the gold standard for determining the cause of death. We summarised the advantages and disadvantages of forensic radiological imaging methods and autopsy. The most information can be obtained by combining the latter with various radiological methods, with postmortem computed tomography being the predominant one. This branch of forensic medicine will become increasingly important with technological development, also due to all the (3D) reconstructions that its imaging data allows. Consequently, it will be necessary to invest in developing and improving knowledge and techniques in the forensic radiological field to achieve diagnostically high-quality results.
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