[Identification of an Unknown Person through the Bone Implant]

It is always a big challenge to identify unknown dead persons. All the more so if their body is found decomposed beyond recognition by effects of the environment and decay. Usually, layman and forensic methods (e.g. fingerprint identification) and, in case of the absence of evidence, also medical methods are used for post mortem identification. A method very rarely used in practice is the identification of the deceased through the implants. The described case concerned a finding of a decomposed body of an unidentified man. During the autopsy, apart from the signs of multiple surgeries, a dynamic hip screw implant with a well identifiable serial number was found. Based on this number, health care facilities were traced back in which such an implant had been used, and through studying the documentation of 117 cases, a male patient was finally identified whose other autopsy findings matched the clinical finding. Without the excellent cooperation of orthopaedists and medical examiners, the man would most likely remain unidentified. Key words: identification, autopsy for identification purposes, bone implants, dynamic hip screw.