Postmortem Computed Tomographic Analysis of Death Caused by Oral Drug Intoxication

Abstract

Traditional autopsy has changed little in the past century. In Japan, the rate of forensic autopsy in cases of unusual death is very low. Therefore, multi-slice computed tomography (CT) has been used to obtain imaging data instead of or in addition to autopsy in suspicious forensic cases. In our institute, postmortem multi-slice CT has been performed since 2009, and by 2014 there were over 1,000 cases. Our extensive experience with postmortem CT shows that in many cases of death by drug overdose, stomach contents exhibit high X-ray absorption. This article reviews the relationship between CT findings of stomach contents and toxicological analysis results in 23 cases of death by drug overdose. All cases (12 females and 11 males, aged 44 ± 11 years) known to have orally ingested drugs were included in this study. We assessed the slices of all stomach areas on consecutive axial CT images. Twenty cases (87%) showed high X-ray absorption in the stomach, while the other three did not demonstrate radio-dense stomach contents even though drug analysis detected lethal concentrations of drugs in the blood. In conclusion, drugs were frequently, but not always, visualized as contents with high X-ray absorption in the stomach. Postmortem gastric CT images can provide useful information in cases of oral drug intoxication if there are empty drug packages or a suicide note at the death scene. However, precise determination of the cause of death requires full autopsy in cases where there is no indication of suicide at the death scene.

A Forensic Diagnostic Algorithm for Drug-Related Deaths: A Case Series

“…Cerebral edema, pulmonary edema, bladder distension, liquid material in the airways are frequent findings in postmortem CT but are not sensitive for death due to illicit drug intoxication. For this reason, the use of postmortem CT is not yet a routine in forensic practice [20][21][22]. In case 1, multiple abrasions were observed during an external examination, and postmortem CT allowed to exclude signs of trauma and aggression previous autopsy.…”

An analysis of reports concerning overdose evaluated by abdominal computed tomography

“…[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] Of these, one report by Cha et al 16 did not describe the individual patients' data, so this report was excluded from the data analysis. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] Of these, one report by Cha et al 16 did not describe the individual patients' data, so this report was excluded from the data analysis.…”

“…abdominal CT findings, excluding seven articles of body packers. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] Of these, one report by Cha et al 16 did not describe the individual patients' data, so this report was excluded from the data analysis. Accordingly, 48 cases across 15 articles were defined as subjects in this report.…”

“…Recently, there have been a number of reports concerning the utility of abdominal computed tomography (CT) for diagnosing OD. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] We herein report the summary and results of an analysis of these reports to assess the significance of CT for patients with OD.…”