Nikolić, Slobodan (7102082739)Slobodan (7102082739)NikolićŽivković, Vladimir (36783131300)Vladimir (36783131300)ŽivkovićBabić, Dragan (56197715200)Dragan (56197715200)BabićJuković, Fehim (25958091200)Fehim (25958091200)Juković2025-06-122025-06-122012https://doi.org/10.1097/PAF.0b013e31823a8a32https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84857912822&doi=10.1097%2fPAF.0b013e31823a8a32&partnerID=40&md5=3a82ccbf6fb7c7fa58fbd02a92a1181ehttps://remedy.med.bg.ac.rs/handle/123456789/9747The aim of this study was to determine the differences in the anatomical site of a gunshot entrance wound and the direction of the bullet path between right- and left-handed subjects who committed a suicide by a single gunshot injury to the head. The retrospective autopsy study was performed for a 10-year period, and it included selected cases of single suicidal gunshot head injury, committed by handguns. We considered only contact or near-contact wounds. The sample included 479 deceased, with average age 47.1 ± 19.1 years (range, 12-89 years): 432 males and 47 females, with 317 right-handed, 25 left-handed, and 137 subjects with unknown dominant hand. In our observed sample, most cases involved the right temple as the site of entrance gunshot wound (about 67%), followed by the mouth (16%), forehead (7%), left temple (6%), submental (2%), and parietal region (1%). The left temple, right temple, and forehead were the sites of the gunshot entrance wounds, which were the best predictors of the handedness of the deceased (Spearman ρ = 0.149, P = 0.006). Our study showed that the direction of the bullet intracranial path in cases of suicide was even a more potent predictor of the handedness of the deceased (Spearman ρ = 0.263, P = 0.000; Wald = 149.503, P = 0.000). Copyright © 2012 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.bullet trackforensic pathologyhandednesshead gunshot woundsuicide