Performance of post-mortem CT compared to autopsy in children

Area of Science:

• Forensic Radiology
• Pediatric Pathology

Background:

• Non-enhanced post-mortem computed tomography (PMCT) is crucial for death investigations, particularly in non-medicolegal cases requiring consent for autopsy.
• Obtaining consent for pediatric autopsies can be challenging, making radiological methods a potential alternative.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the performance of PMCT compared to conventional medicolegal autopsies in children.
• To assess the utility of PMCT in non-medicolegal death investigations involving children.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective review of 26 children (0-12 years) investigated by both autopsy and PMCT.
• Comparison of findings from radiological and autopsy reports, categorized by importance and anatomical structures (organs, vascular system, soft tissue, skeletal system).

Main Results:

• Autopsy detected significantly more general findings than PMCT, especially in organs, soft tissues, and vascular structures.
• PMCT demonstrated superiority in detecting bone findings.
• No statistically significant differences were observed between PMCT and autopsy in identifying essential findings crucial for determining the cause of death.

Conclusions:

• PMCT is less sensitive than autopsy for general findings in children but detects most essential findings.
• PMCT is superior to autopsy for detecting bone lesions in pediatric cases.
• Limited literature exists on pediatric PMCT in forensic settings; this study highlights its advantages and limitations.