Decrease in ventricular and sulcal size after death

Fifty-one intact corpses were examined with the EMI head scanner from 1 1/2-52 hours after death; 15 of these had antemortem CT scans. Seven had sequential postmortem CT scans. CT scans and autopsy findings for lateral ventricular size and sulcal width were compared. The lateral ventricular size generally, and the sulcal width occasionally, became smaller after death, though the decrease was usually mild. This decrease was demonstrated not only on antemortem and postmortem sequential CT scans, but on postmortem sequential CT scans alone as well.