[Introduction to forensic gerontology]

Objective - to substantiate the identification of a new direction in forensic medicine - forensic gerontology. A statistical analysis of the structure of forensic medical research of corpses in terms of age for a twenty-year period has been carried out. The data on the features of the expert assessment of injuries in old age taking into account geriatric syndromes and aging syndromes have been analyzed. The features and difficulties of postmortem diagnosis among persons aged 75+ in cases of nonviolent death were assessed and a significant disproportion in the structure of morbidity with pathology detected during autopsy was noted. The data obtained made it possible to substantiate the selection of a new direction of forensic science and outline the prospects for research in this area.