Ct Scan During Adib S Autopsy Revealed More Fractures Inquest Told

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INQUEST | A CT scan conducted as part of firefighter Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim's post-mortem report had revealed fractures on his left ribs which were not visible during an initial scan, taken when he was rushed to the hospital from the Seafield Seri Mahariamman temple riot scene.

The inquest to determine Adib's cause of death zeroed in on scanned images taken at Sime Darby Ramsay Medical Centre on Nov 27 and later as a part of the post-mortem conducted at HKL on Dec 17
When presented with the two images, the National Heart Institute's (IJN) consultant anaesthesiologist Dr Suneta Sulaiman (above) said the initial scan from SJMC only revealed fractures to Adib's right anterior (front) and posterior (back) ribs, but the scan from HKL also showed a linear fracture on his left posterior ribs
"It (fractures on the left) was not visible. Whether it existed or not (from the beginning) we don't know
"Displacement of bones could be more visible when there was more movement in that area," said Suneta to questions from inquest conducting officer Zhafran Rahim Hamzah
"Whilst the patient was with us from SJMC and his whole stay, there was no trauma. Nothing fell on him. We didn’t do procedures in that area
"It’s unlikely that these injuries happened in that time," she added
Suneta said there must be significant impact applied to a particular area in order to fracture multiple bones, although not all fractures would be visible unless the bones were displaced through movement
"It’s possible due to a movement that the fracture can be displaced. A fracture can be undisplaced when the bones are aligned
"When the bones are no longer aligned, the fractures are clear and visible to see," she further explained on possible reasons that more fractures were visible in the post-mortem scan
To questions from Adib's family lawyer Mohd Kamaruzaman A Wahab, Suneta, however, said she was unable to ascertain the amount of force that had caused the fractures, as it was beyond her area of expertise
To a suggestion from Kamaruzaman that less force had caused the fractures on Adib's left posterior, as they were only visible after the second CT scan, Suneta said it was possible but a pathologist would be able to provide more clarifications
"For a doctor, all multiple rib fractures are severe. I cannot say which (based on scans) is more severe
"To say whether the fractures on back or front is more severe, to me both are severe," she said.
No CT scan was conducted on Adib throughout his treatment at IJN as the team of experts led by Suneta had deemed his condition unstable to be moved from the ICU to their radiology unit on a different floor
Previous witnesses in the inquest had testified how there were visible signs of bruising on the right side of Adib's body from near his armpits down to his ribcage
The inquest before Coroner Rofiah Mohamad at Shah Alam High Court continues with its afternoon session today. - Mkini

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