Roelof-Jan Oostra

• MD, PhD
• University of Amsterdam

Forensic taphonomy is the study of postmortem changes of human remains for the purpose of answering legal investigative questions. Many variables can affect the pattern and rate of decomposition of remains, posing challenges for taphonomic studies and estimation of the postmortem interval. Given the gap in knowledge regarding the suitability of usi...

Background Lithopaedion, or “stone baby,” represents an exceptionally rare clinical phenomenon with fewer than 350 documented cases existing in the medical literature. This condition arises when an advanced extrauterine pregnancy ceases its developmental trajectory and undergoes a lithification process, potentially resulting in a calcified mass wit...

Forensic taphonomy is the study of postmortem changes of human remains for the purpose of answering legal investigative questions. There are a myriad of variables affecting the pattern and rate of decomposition of remains, which complicate taphonomic studies and estimation of the postmortem interval. Although a large number of taphonomic studies ha...

Estimation of the exposure temperature of skeletal remains can be done by means of colourimetry and a previously published decision model for the colourimetric data, resulting in clusters that represent a range of exposure temperature. The method was based on thermally altered freshly burned human skeletal remains. However, in practice the origin o...

A multitude of additional anomalies can be observed in virtually all types of symmetrical conjoined twins. These concomitant defects can be divided into different dysmorphological patterns. Some of these patterns reveal their etiological origin through their topographical location. The so-called shared anomalies are traceable to embryological adjus...

Background This study aimed to assess the feasibility of postmortem ultra-high-field magnetic resonance imaging (UHF-MRI) to study fetal musculoskeletal anatomy and explore the contribution of variation in iodine and formaldehyde (paraformaldehyde, PFA) treatment of tissue. Methods Seven upper extremities from human fetuses with gestational ages o...

Background: Symmetric craniorachipagus is an exceedingly rare type of bi-umbilical conjoined twinning, known from only three scantily described cases. Case: We identified a fourth, previously described case that was misdiagnosed as janiceps and as pygopagus. It concerned dorsally conjoined twins that were part of a triplet pregnancy, spontaneous...

Human bone has shown to have luminescent properties that remain throughout the phases of cremation, with the exception of fully carbonized bone, when excited with a narrow band light source. During this research, an alternate light source (420–470nm, peak at 445nm) was used to visualize and investigate latent details relevant for forensic investiga...

The collection of the Narrenturm in Vienna houses and maintains more than 50,000 objects including approximately 1200 teratological specimens; making it one of the biggest collections of specimens from human origin in Europe. The existence of this magnificent collection―representing an important resource for dysmorphology research, mostly awaiting...

Objectives Adult spleens show extensive morphological variation, with a reported prevalence of 40–98% clefts (also called notches or fissures) on the splenic surface and 10–30% accessory spleens at autopsy. It is hypothesised that both anatomical variants result from a complete or partial failure of multiple splenic primordia to fuse to the main bo...

Microcephaly, characterized by crania with an abnormally small occipitofrontal circumference (OFC), is only sporadically described in paleopathological literature. Accurate identification of individuals suffering from microcephaly is challenging when performed in an archeological context, especially in mild cases, as appropriate reference data is o...

Over the last few years, fetal postmortem microfocus computed tomography (micro-CT) imaging has increased in popularity for both diagnostic and research purposes. Micro-CT imaging could be a substitute for autopsy, particularly in very early gestation fetuses for whom autopsy can be technically challenging and is often unaccepted by parents. This a...

The Medical School of Padua (Italy) contributed profoundly to the study of teratology. Many famous physicians and professors of medicine, such as Liceti, Vallisneri, Morgagni, and Malacarne, have studied and investigated these anomalies to better understand the causes and to find a potential explanation, often preserving the specimens for future st...

To investigate the differences between pre- and post-fire fractures, 30 human forearm bones were subjected to either blunt-force impact, burning, or both. Bones, covered in soft tissue and wrapped in clothing, were burned in a reconstructed house fire. The burning context and dynamics led to differential burning, that was equal amongst the three gr...

Conjoined triplets are among the rarest of human malformations, as are asymmetric or parasitic conjoined twins. Based on a very modest corpus of recent literature, we applied the embryonic disk model of conjoined twinning to 10 previously reported cases involving asymmetric anatomical multiplications to determine whether they concerned conjoined tw...

Burnt human bones are frequently encountered in forensic case work. Bones that are exposed to intense heat drastically alter in their physical and chemical properties. Depending on the exposure temperature, they shrink, deform and fragmentize but they can still be of use in assessing the victim’s identity. After a short plenary introduction, the pa...

Burned human skeletal remains luminesce visibly to the human eye when irradiated with alternate light sources. This characteristic can aid the recovery of human remains in difficult context and provide information on the exposure temperature. However, the observed colour of luminescence of samples collected from fire scenes is heterogeneous which m...

When investigating burned human remains bone fractures can be encountered, the question then rises whether a bone fracture occured before, during of after heat exposure. To investigate the differences between fractures that were already present before the fire versus those that occured during and after the fire, 30 fresh human forearm bones were su...

To increase our understanding of the etiology of specific neurological disorders (e.g., Duane syndrome, glossoptosis in Pierre Robin sequence), proper knowledge of anatomy and embryology of cranial nerves is necessary. We investigated cranial nerve development, studied histological sections of human embryos, and quantitatively analyzed the 3D recon...

Due to advancements in ultrasound techniques, the focus of antenatal ultrasound screening is moving towards the first trimester of pregnancy. The early first trimester however remains in part, a ‘black box’, due to the size of the developing embryo and the limitations of contemporary scanning techniques. Therefore there is a need for images of earl...

Determining the time since death, i.e., post-mortem interval (PMI), often plays a key role in forensic investigations. The current standard PMI-estimation method empirically correlates rectal temperatures and PMIs, frequently necessitating subjective correction factors. To overcome this, we previously developed a thermodynamic finite-difference (TF...

The ventricular walls of the human heart comprise an outer compact layer and an inner trabecular layer. In the context of an increased pre-test probability, diagnosis left ventricular noncompaction cardiomyopathy is given when the left ventricle is excessively trabeculated in volume (trabecular vol >25% of total LV wall volume) or thickness (trabec...

Several teratologic collections containing specimens with malformations and syndromes are maintained in a number of Dutch anatomical museums. Technically, these are not works of art or antiquities. However, many have been depicted in illustrations of such high quality that they merit discussion here. We review a selection of specimens and their art...

Bone has photoluminescent characteristics that can aid the analysis of thermally altered human skeletal remains as part of the forensic anthropological investigation. Photoluminescence stands collectively for fluorescence and phosphorescence. Because the difference in lifetime between fluorescence and phosphorescence is usually in the range of nano...

Shared anomalies, always located close to the area of coalescence and observable in virtually every type of conjoined twinning, are currently seen as separate anomalies caused by mostly unknown and seemingly unrelated pathways rather than being connected to the twinning mechanism itself. Therefore, most (case) reports about conjoined twins are mere...

Estimation of the postmortem interval in advanced postmortem stages is a challenging task. Although there are several approaches available for addressing postmortem changes of a (human) body or its environment (ecologically and/or biochemically), most are restricted to specific timeframes and/or individual and environmental conditions. It is well k...

Introduction Congenital tracheal anomalies are associated with high morbidity and mortality. The etiology of congenital tracheal anomalies is not well understood, but often attributed to malformed tracheal cartilage. The development of tracheal cartilage has not been described in detail. In this study, we aimed to investigate the development patter...

A taphonomic research facility for the study of human remains was recently realized in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, to systematically investigate the decomposition of the human body under known conditions. Governmental authorization was obtained to make use of the body donation program of the Amsterdam University Medical Centers, location Academic M...

Fire investigations, especially involving deceased, are considered difficult. Fire is destructive, it can completely consume soft tissues and organic components within the calcified tissues. This impedes the analysis necessary for answering questions regarding, for example, the identity of the deceased. The forensic investigation starts with the re...

It is currently unknown whether morphological sex estimation traits are accurately portrayed on virtual bone models, and this hampers the use of virtual bone models as an alternative source of contemporary skeletal reference data. This study determines whether commonly used morphological sex estimation traits can be accurately scored on virtual 3D...

Clinical radiology is increasingly used as a source of data to test or develop forensic anthropological methods, especially in countries where contemporary skeletal collections are not available. Naturally, this requires analysis of the error that is a result of low accuracy of the modality (i.e. accuracy of the segmentation) and the error that ari...

At this moment, no method is available to objectively estimate the temperature to which skeletal remains have been exposed during a fire. Estimating this temperature can provide crucial information in a legal investigation. Exposure of bone to heat results in observable and measurable changes, including a change in colour. To determine the exposure...

The extraction of sufficient DNA for subsequent amplification is becoming increasingly important in the field of forensic science. For the identification of the deceased, especially in cases involving severe fragmentation of skeletal elements, it is of utmost importance to base laboratory procedures on scientifically obtained, preferably empirical,...

Objective: The epithelium lining the human middle ear and adjacent temporal bone cavity shows a varying morphological appearance throughout these cavities. Its embryologic origin has long been debated and recently got attention in a newly proposed theory of a dual embryologic origin. The epithelial morphology and its differentiating capabilities a...

In this article, we provide a comprehensive overview of multiple facets in the puzzling genesis of symmetrical conjoined twins. The etiopathogenesis of conjoined twins remains matter for ongoing debate and is currently cited—in virtually every paper on conjoined twins—as partial fission or secondary fusion. Both theories could potentially be extrap...

The sinus venosus is a cardiac chamber upstream of the right atrium that harbours the dominant cardiac pacemaker. During human heart development, the sinus venosus becomes incorporated into the right atrium. However, from the literature it is not possible to deduce the characteristics and importance of this process of incorporation, due to inconsis...

The notochord is a major regulator of embryonic patterning in vertebrates and abnormal notochordal development is associated with a variety of birth defects in man. Proper knowledge of the development of the human notochord, therefore, is important to understand the pathogenesis of these birth defects. Textbook descriptions vary significantly and s...

Histological sections of three stage 8 (17–19 days) human embryos. Specimens Nos. 10157, 5960 and 7545 of the Carnegie collection with cross-sections at the same level, matching the black lines in the ventral illustration. The notochordal process becomes smaller, containing less nuclei or cells, in the cranial direction in specimen 5960 and 7545. F...

The purpose of this study was to describe the normal 3D orientation and shape of the subtalar calcaneal posterior facet. This is not adequately described in current literature. In a supine position both feet of 20 healthy subjects were imaged in a simulated weight‐bearing CT. A cylinder and plane were fitted to the posterior facet of the surface mo...

Data S1. Supplementary 3D‐PDF. Interactive 3D reconstruction of the skeletal muscular system at 8 weeks of development.

A rapid inspection of the table of contents shows that we have grouped relevant cardiovascular developmental topics in five different sections, which move progressively from basic research to clinical relevance, concluding with a glance at the near future of this fast-moving field. All of these sections deal with concepts that are critical to under...

ABSTRACT In order to be considered acceptable as evidence in the court of law, forensic anthropological sex estimation methods need to be derived from large and representative skeletal populations. However, most European countries lack contemporary collections and are thus unable to develop or test sex estimation methods. The large amount of clini...

The application of digital techniques in forensic anthropology has recently increased dramatically. Radiological imaging techniques (e.g. CT-scans) to test or develop methods for forensic anthropological estimation of sex, age, stature and ancestry has especially gained attention. These methods require representative reference data, and clinical CT...

Congenital muscle diseases, such as myopathies or dystrophies, occur relatively frequently, with estimated incidences of up to 4.7 per 100 000 newborns. To diagnose congenital diseases in the early stages of pregnancy, and to interpret the results of increasingly advanced in utero imaging techniques, a profound knowledge of normal human morphologic...

The anatomical collection of the Anatomical Museum of Leiden University Medical Center (historically referred to as Museum Anatomicum Academiae Lugduno-Batavae) houses and maintains more than 13,000 unique anatomical, pathological and zoological specimens, and include the oldest teratological specimens of The Netherlands. Throughout four centuries...

We present a rare case of a neonate with an isolated congenital condition of his right ear involving the outer ear, middle ear, eustachian tube, and the facial nerve, with an external opening into the skull that connects to the oropharynx. Taking this bizarre aspect of the exterior lesion and the oropharyngeal communication into account, we conside...

After a mass fatality incident (MFI) it is of uttermost importance to identify all deceased and be able to rule out whether declared missing persons are amongst the dead. In MFI involving extreme circumstances, like fire, it can be difficult to obtain DNA from strongly degraded skeletal remains. It is important to know how to process the skeletal r...

Throughout the last four centuries, many anatomical museums across the world have collected teratological specimens that became precious objects. These can be regarded as spirits of the past which have captured the morphology of diseases through time. These valuable and irreplaceable specimens can be perfectly used in contemporary dysmorphological...

Introduction Since the multi-site closure theory was first proposed in 1991 as explanation for the preferential localizations of neural tube defects, the closure of the neural tube has been debated. Although the multi-site closure theory is much cited in clinical literature, single-site closure is most apparent in literature concerning embryology....

The colour of thermally altered bone, recovered from archaeological and forensic contexts, is related to the temperature(s) to which it was exposed. As it is heated bone changes in colour from ivory white, to brown and black, to different shades of grey and chalky white. It should be possible to estimate exposure temperature based on visually obser...

Almost all European countries lack contemporary skeletal collections for the development and validation of forensic anthropological methods. Furthermore, legal, ethical and practical considerations hinder the development of skeletal collections. A virtual skeletal database derived from clinical computed tomography (CT) scans provides a potential so...

Literature on luminescent properties of thermally altered human remains is scarce and contradictory. Therefore, the luminescence of heated bone was systemically reinvestigated. A heating experiment was conducted on fresh human bone, in two different media, and cremated human remains were recovered from a modern crematory. Luminescence was excited w...

Introduction: This study presents a reference for the dimensions of the tarsal sinus and canal in healthy adults in different foot positions to facilitate understanding of the kinematics of the subtalar joint, the effect of an implant, and other clinical issues. Materials and methods: In a 3D CT stress test on 20 subjects, the right foot was for...

Introduction: The aim of this study was to determine whether effects of repetitive freeze-thaw cycles, with various thawing temperatures, on human muscle tissue can be quantified using post-mortem computed tomography (PMCT) technology. An additional objective was to determine the preferred thawing temperature for muscle tissue in this study. Mate...

The most impressive phenotypic appearance of sirenomelia is the presence of a 180°-rotated, axially positioned, single lower limb. Associated gastrointestinal and genitourinary anomalies are almost always present. This rare anomaly is still the subject of ongoing controversies concerning its nosology, pathogenesis, and possible genetic etiology. Si...

Objectives: To determine the advantages of radiological imaging of a collection of full-term teratological fetuses in order to increase their scientific and educational value. BACKGROUND : Anatomical museums around the world exhibit full-term teratological fetuses. Unfortunately, these museums are regularly considered as "morbid cabinets". Detail...

Many countries lack contemporary skeletal collections that reflect the diversity in the modern population. A possible solution is the development of a virtual skeletal database from computed tomography (CT) images. Postmortem CT scans, generally conducted under ideal conditions, reflect a specific sub-sample. Clinical CT scans provide a possible so...

Oral-facial-digital syndrome type 1 (OFD1; OMIM# 311200) is an X-linked dominant ciliopathy caused by mutations in the OFD1 gene. This condition is characterized by facial anomalies and abnormalities of oral tissues, digits, brain, and kidneys. Almost all affected patients are female, as OFD1 is presumed to be lethal in males, mostly in the first o...

This study aimed to develop an aquatic decomposition scoring (ADS) method and investigated the predictive value of this method in estimating the postmortem submersion interval (PMSI) of bodies recovered from the North Sea. This method, consisting of an ADS item list and a pictorial reference atlas, showed a high interobserver agreement (Krippendorf...

Digital reconstruction of human development The detailed morphology of human development has intrigued scientists and the medical field alike. However, the scarcity of specimens hampers detailed mapping of tissue architecture. Furthermore, inaccuracies in the description of human development have crept into textbooks from observations of animal mod...

Most congenital conditions have low prevalence, but collectively they occur in a few percent of all live births. Congenital conditions are rarely encountered in anthropological studies, not least because many of them have no obvious effect on the skeleton. Here, we discuss two groups of congenital conditions that specifically affect the skeleton, e...

Information on the temperature and duration that skeletal remains have been exposed to, can be crucial in a legal investigation. Because the bone matrix consists out of an in- and organic component it changes in a predictable sequence when exposed to heat, first dehydration, than carbonization, followed by calcination. There is much discussion on t...

Background: Forensic anthropologists play an important role in the identification of unknown dead persons. To do so, they compile a biological profile of unknown victims based on morphological and metric characteristics of the skeleton. These characteristics differ between generations and populations. Forensic anthropological casework has experienc...

Background: Human bodies donated to hospitals and other institutes for research and instruction purposes are occasionally preserved using a fresh-frozen conservation method. This method entails the material being frozen and stored immediately upon arrival. However, the material is frequently thawed and refrozen multiple times in order to efficientl...

The Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (Kunstkamera) in Saint Petersburg is the oldest museum in Russia. It keeps the remains of the anatomical collection of the world-famous 17th century Dutch anatomist Frederik Ruysch. This unique collection was bought and shipped in 1717 by Czar Peter the Great, and presently still comprises...

Files of the Dutch bureau of missing persons at the North Sea (BVPN) were investigated to analyse the process that led to identification of human bodies recovered from the North Sea between 1980 and 2013. Of the 94 cases that were analysed 41.5 % was identified by the family, 23.4% by the use of DNA and 17% by the use of the dental status. The link...

Background: Recent studies reported an association between prenatal propylthiouracil exposure and birth defects, including abnormal arrangement across the left-right body axis, suggesting an association with heterotaxy syndrome. Methods: This case-control and case-finding study used data from 1981 to 2013 from the EUROCAT birth defect registry i...

Caudal regression syndrome (CRS) is a rare congenital disorder characterized by developmental abnormalities of caudal spinal segments. To date, the etiology of CRS is unclear; sporadic cases are strongly associated with maternal diabetes, while familiar recurrence is infrequent. We describe in detail the prenatal clinical and sonographic findings o...

Ventricular hypertrabeculation (noncompaction) is a poorly characterized condition associated with heart failure. The condition is widely assumed to be the retention of the trabeculated ventricular design of the embryo and ectothermic (cold-blooded) vertebrates. This assumption appears simplistic and counterfactual. Here, we measured a set of anato...

To reconstruct the perimortem events and for ethical reasons it is of great importance to retrieve all human remains from a scene, whether it is a crime scene or an accidental fire scene. The recovery of human remains from fire scenes can be difficult because the fragmentary remains blend in easily with the structural debris, hence in some cases no...

During embryonic development our body plan is laid down. The formation of this body plan provides rational explanations as to the relative positions of organs in the adult body, and to the origin of congenital malformations. Hallmark studies on human development, some published as long as 100 years ago, continue to serve as resources upon which cur...

During embryonic development our body plan is laid down. The formation of this body plan provides rational explanations as to the relative positions of organs in the adult body, and to the origin of congenital malformations. Hallmark studies on human development, some published as long as 100 years ago, continue to serve as resources upon which cur...

The T gene (brachyury gene) is the founding member of the T-box family of transcription factors and is vital for the formation and differentiation of the mesoderm and the axial development of all vertebrates. We report here on four patients from three consanguineous families exhibiting sacral agenesis, a persistent notochordal canal and abnormal os...

Forensic characterisation of organ tissue generally occurs through histological and immunological assays of limited sensitivity. Here, we explore an alternative approach and examine a total of 41 candidate mRNA markers for their ability to differentiate between brain, lung, liver, skeletal muscle, heart, kidney and skin. Various selection rounds ar...