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Utility of postmortem computed tomography in trauma victims
Y Donchin1, A I Rivkind, J Bar-Ziv
1Department of Anaesthesiology, Hadassah Hebrew University Hospital, Jerusalem, Israel.
The Journal of Trauma
|October 1, 1994
Summary
Postmortem CT tomography (PMCT) complements conventional autopsy in trauma fatalities, increasing diagnostic yield. While not superior alone, PMCT aids in identifying bone injuries and offers insights when autopsy is not feasible.
Area of Science:
- Forensic Pathology
- Radiology
- Medical Imaging
Background:
- Declining autopsy rates pose challenges for forensic investigations.
- Postmortem computed tomography (PMCT) offers a non-invasive alternative for examining deceased individuals.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare the diagnostic accuracy of PMCT with conventional forensic autopsy in trauma fatalities.
- To evaluate the combined utility of PMCT and autopsy for identifying pathologic findings.
Main Methods:
- 25 trauma victims underwent total body CT scanning within 6 hours of death.
- Conventional autopsy was performed in 13 cases.
- Pathologists and radiologists were blinded to each other's findings.
Main Results:
- Combined PMCT and autopsy yielded more information than either method alone.
- PMCT detected more bone injuries, while autopsy was superior for soft-tissue findings.
- PMCT revealed 70.5% and autopsy 74.8% of all pathologic states.
Conclusions:
- PMCT increases the diagnostic yield when combined with conventional autopsy.
- PMCT is valuable for investigating trauma fatalities when autopsy is unattainable.