Abstract: The contraction bands of cardiac and skeletal muscleprobes were studied They were taken from autopsy caseswith different death causes. The morphologic characteris-tics of the contraction bands that were closely related todiagnosis were carefully observed. It was found that the morphological Pattems of the contraction bands were vari-ous and are some were regularly seen for the death with cer-tain causes. The forensic significane of the contractionbands was then discussed and it was suggested that themorphology of contraction bands of the striated musclecorrelate to the type and structure of tissues as well as tothe property of injuries.

Key words: contraction bands, morphology, significance of diagnosis