Comparative study of the skeletal remains of San Felice (Italy, Sardegna, Sassari) using both multislice computed tomography and conventional techniques of human identification

Objective The Archbishop of Sassari requested the Department of Biomedical Sciences, Legal Medicine, University of Sassari, to coordinate an investigation identifying the human skeletal remains of Felice Martyr, patron saint of Sennori, preserved in an urn wooden reliquary. The purpose of this research was to determine, as accurately as possible, the biologic profile from the recovered remains. We proceeded involving multi-slice computed tomography (MSCT) and conventional techniques for reconstructive human identification. Materials and methods The research, leaded by legal medicine, required a specialized team of forensic scientists (anthropologist, odontologist, radiologist, paleontologist, and geneticist). First of all, conventional X-ray and multislice computed tomography MSCT allowed the morphological study and an image-guided virtual autopsy from two and three-dimensional bone reconstructions. Then, we performed biological samplings (DNA, dental and skeletal sample, radiocarbon dating) and anthropological analysis. Results and conclusions The findings of this investigation leaded to assess the valuable role of the MSCT images along with conventional techniques for human identification and these also validated the essential role of MSCT when skeletal remains must be preserved.