Postmortem computed tomography findings as evidence of traffic accident-related fatal injury

Most traumatic deaths in Japan are due to nonpenetrating injuries, especially those that result from traffic accidents; however, the autopsy rate of traffic accident-related deaths is only about 5%. We investigated the diagnostic ability of postmortem computed tomography (PMCT) in cases of fatal trauma after traffic accidents.

Our subjects were 78 subjects (59 males, 19 females; mean age 50 years, range 15-87 years) who were brought to our institution in cardiopulmonary arrest on arrival after traffic accidents and died despite resuscitation attempts. PMCT findings of damage to the head, neck, thorax, abdomen, and pelvis were classified into three grades according to the Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) severity: A: 1 (minor), 2 (moderate); B: 3 (serious), 4 (severe), 5 (critical); C: 6 (maximum).

The percentage ratio of A/B/C in 78 head injuries was 32/60/8, in 41 neck injuries 83/5/12, in 76 thorax injuries 5/38/57, in 76 abdominal injuries 70/24/7, and in 76 pelvic injuries 79/21/0, respectively.

PMCT can detect or presume fatal trauma when diagnosing the cause of death after traffic accidents.