Postmortem computed tomography of cadavers embalmed for use in teaching gross anatomy

To integrate radiology more fully into the first year of medical school, each student was provided with a computed tomographic (CT) scan of his or her gross anatomy cadaver before dissection. We describe the imaging findings of these embalmed cadavers.

Eighteen cadavers, embalmed within 2 days of death and stored an average of 8 months, were scanned with multidetector CT.

The CT findings provided opportunities for enhanced learning and guidance for the dissection. Specific findings were categorized as postmortem and embalming changes, pathological changes, and iatrogenic changes. Image quality was degraded by beam hardening artifact caused by the arms being placed alongside the body. Differences in attenuation between many soft-tissue structures were reduced, compared with living subjects.

Findings on CT scans of embalmed cadavers show significant differences from CT scans of living patients, due to postmortem state and artifacts of preservation.