Postmortem imaging-guided biopsy as an adjuvant to minimally invasive autopsy with CT and postmortem angiography: a feasibility study.

Objective: Although postmortem CT suffices for diagnosing most forms of traumatic death, the examination of natural death is, to date, very difficult and error prone. The introduction of postmortem angiography has led to improved radiologic diagnoses of natural deaths. Nevertheless, histologic changes to tissues, an important aspect in traditional examination procedures, remain obscure even with CT and CT angiography.

Clinical radiology and postmortem imaging (Virtopsy) are not the same: Specific and unspecific postmortem signs.

The aim of this article is to disclose the characteristics of postmortem forensic imaging; give an overview of the several possible findings in postmortem imaging, which are uncommon or new to clinical radiologists; and discuss the possible pitfalls. Unspecific postmortem signs are enlisted and specific signs shall be presented, which are typical for one cause of death. Unspecific signs.

Can MRI of the neck compete with clinical findings in assessing danger to life for survivors of manual strangulation? A statistical analysis.

Objective: The aim of the study was to examine the clinical forensic findings of strangulation according to their ability to differentiate between life-threatening and non-life-threatening strangulation, compare clinical and MRI findings of the neck and discuss a simple score for life-threatening strangulation (SLS).

Materials And Methods: Forensic pathologists classified a continuous sample of 56 survivors of strangulation into life-threatening cases by clinical history and examination alone. Subjective, objective and radiological signs were evaluated for discriminating the two groups.

Diagnosis of fatal pulmonary fat embolism with minimally invasive virtual autopsy and post-mortem biopsy.

We report a case of a 78-year-old female with a proximal femur fracture caused by an accidental fall who died suddenly 1h after orthopaedic prosthesis insertion. Post-mortem computed tomography (CT) scan and histological examination of samples obtained with post-mortem percutaneous needle biopsies of both lungs were performed. Analysis of the medical history and the clinical scenario immediately before death, imaging data, and biopsy histology established the cause of death without proceeding to traditional autopsy.

Postmortem whole-body computed tomography angiography visualizing vascular rupture in a case of fatal car crash.

In addition to the increasingly significant role of multislice computed tomography in forensic pathology, the performance of whole-body computed tomography angiography provides outstanding results. In this case, we were able to detect multiple injuries of the parenchymal organs in the upper abdomen as well as lesions of the brain parenchyma and vasculature of the neck. The radiologic findings showed complete concordance with the autopsy and even supplemented the autopsy findings in areas that are difficult to access via a manual dissection (such as the vasculature of the neck).

Is differentiation of frequently encountered foreign bodies in corpses possible by Hounsfield density measurement?

The radiological determination of foreign objects in corpses can be difficult if they are fragmented or deformed. With multislice computed tomography, radiodensities--referred to as Hounsfield units (HU)--can be measured. We examined the possibility of differentiating 21 frequently occurring foreign bodies, such as metals, rocks, and different manmade materials by virtue of their HU values.

Abdominal trauma--sensitivity and specificity of postmortem noncontrast imaging findings compared with autopsy findings.

Objective: The aim of the study was to determine the sensitivity and specificity for typical abdominal injuries after major blunt trauma in postmortem multislice computed tomography (MSCT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Material: Thirty-four cases of accidental death underwent postmortem pre-autopsy MSCT and MRI. The imaging findings were correlated with the autopsy findings.

Life-threatening versus non-life-threatening manual strangulation: are there appropriate criteria for MR imaging of the neck?

The aim of the study was to determine objective radiological signs of danger to life in survivors of manual strangulation and to establish a radiological scoring system for the differentiation between life-threatening and non-life-threatening strangulation by dividing the cross section of the neck into three zones (superficial, middle and deep zone). Forensic pathologists classified 56 survivors of strangulation into life-threatening and non-life-threatening cases by history and clinical examination alone, and two blinded radiologists evaluated the MRIs of the neck. In 15 cases, strangulation was life-threatening (27%), compared with 41 cases in which strangulation was non-life-threatening (73%).

[A dead man with a light reddish skin].

A 40-year-old man was found dead in his bathroom with a light reddish skin. The cause of death was asphyxia due to CO-intoxication.

Postmortem whole-body CT angiography: evaluation of two contrast media solutions.

Objective: The objective of our study was to establish a standardized procedure for postmortem whole-body CT-based angiography with lipophilic and hydrophilic contrast media solutions and to compare the results of these two methods.

Materials And Methods: Minimally invasive postmortem CT angiography was performed on 10 human cadavers via access to the femoral blood vessels. Separate perfusion of the arterial and venous systems was established with a modified heart-lung machine using a mixture of an oily contrast medium and paraffin (five cases) and a mixture of a water-soluble contrast medium with polyethylene glycol (PEG) 200 in the other five cases.

Differential distribution of vasa vasorum in different vascular beds in humans.

Objective: Vasa vasorum (VV) have been implicated to play a role in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. This study was designed to describe the distribution of VV density in different vascular beds in humans and to investigate the association between VV density and the known distribution of atherosclerosis in human arteries.

Methods: Forty-two human arteries, harvested at autopsy or after explantation, were analyzed by three-dimensional microscopic-computed tomography (micro-CT).