Which characteristic is typical of a perimortem gunshot entrance wound on bone?

• A. A wound with sharp edges and radiating fractures around the perforation, with no signs of healing
• B. A wound with smooth edges and signs of healing
• C. A wound with jagged edges and heavy clotting
• D. A wound with irregular margin and fractures

Answer: (C)

Perimortem gunshot entrance wounds on bone are fresh defects that show no healing and have distinct edge and fracture patterns from the moment of impact. The key feature is edges that are clean and sharp, without a reparative surface, because there hasn’t been time for bone to respond biologically. Around a gunshot entry, you often see radiating fractures emanating from the perforation as the energy of the bullet propagates through brittle bone. These radiating cracks are characteristic of a penetrating trauma at death.

Healing would indicate the wound occurred earlier and had time to repair, which is not the case near the time of death. Jagged margins or irregular margins can arise from other processes, such as postmortem damage or different trauma mechanisms, and wouldn’t be the typical presentation of a perimortem entrance wound. Heavy clotting is a soft-tissue response and isn’t a defining feature of the perimortem bone wound pattern.