Postmortem imaging in congenital heart disease: preliminary experience

Area of Science:

• Medical imaging
• Pathology
• Cardiology

Background:

• Autopsy rates have declined due to low acceptance and high costs.
• Autopsies are crucial for quality improvement in healthcare.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare postmortem imaging (PMI) with autopsy for congenital heart defects.
• To evaluate PMI as a substitute for autopsy.
• To compare the costs of PMI and autopsy.

Main Methods:

• Ten patients with congenital heart disease underwent PMI (postmortem magnetic resonance imaging and postmortem computed tomographic angiography).
• PMI findings were interpreted before autopsy and compared.
• Costs of both methods were tracked.

Main Results:

• PMI accurately diagnosed principal heart defects and imaged major cardiac structures and organs.
• PMI findings closely corresponded with autopsy results.
• PMI was approximately 15% less expensive than autopsy.

Conclusions:

• Postmortem imaging provides most gross anatomic cardiac diagnoses comparable to autopsy.
• PMI is a cost-effective alternative for evaluating congenital heart defects.