Time-related course of pleural space fluid collection and pulmonary aeration on postmortem computed tomography (PMCT)

Abstract

Postmortem CT (PMCT) is increasingly used in forensic practice, and knowledge and classification of typical postmortem imaging findings would facilitate the interpretation of PMCT. The goal of this study was to define the time-related course of postmortem chest findings. Twelve cadavers (eight male, four female, 27-81 [mean, 60.0]years) were examined twice by PMCT within an interval of time (4-164 h [mean, 30.8; median, 17.5]). The pleural-space-fluid volume, pulmonary parenchyma volume, decreased aerated lung volume (DLV), %DLV (=DLV/pulmonary parenchyma volume) and chest cavity volume were compared between the first and second PMCT examinations. To evaluate the volume change rate, the rate of increase in pleural space fluid volume (mL/h) and the DLV rate (mL/h) were plotted according to the postmortem period. On the second PMCT, the volume of pleural space fluid (p=0.0469) and %DLV (p=0.0161) were significantly increased. The increase rate of the pleural space fluid increased at approximately 30 h and the volume continued to increase until approximately 40 h after death. The rate of DLV constantly decreased in the early postmortem period. In conclusion, the pleural-space-fluid collection and the DLV increased over different time-related courses in the postmortem period.

Loss of VAMP5 in mice results in duplication of the ureter and insufficient expansion of the lung

“…Other mice with aeration of the trachea (Fig. change in the chests of humans and rabbits (Hyodoh et al, 2015(Hyodoh et al, , 2016. Dead P0 mice also showed pleural spaces (Fig.…”

“…Scale bars ¼ 100 mm. change in the chests of humans and rabbits (Hyodoh et al, 2015(Hyodoh et al, , 2016. We examined dead littermates within 24 hr after birth to minimize the postmortem changes, and found insufficient expansion of the lung as a possible cause of death after birth.…”

Postmortem CT versus forensic autopsy: frequent discrepancies of tracheobronchial content findings

“…Ishida et al demonstrated that in nontraumatic death cases, the appearance of fluid contents in the airways in PMCT correlated with the time after death [29]. Hyodoh et al showed a decreased aerated lung volume due to fluid accumulations over time after death [30]. Therefore, in the present study, it may be possible that PMI may have had an influence on the presence of fluid contents in PMCT in the evaluated forensic cases.…”

Circumstances and autopsy findings in drownings, Department of Forensic Medicine, Aarhus University, 2006-2015

“…By contrast, it cannot be excluded that pleural effusion is more often present in salt water submersions than in fresh water submersions. As pleural effusion has been correlated to the time a body has been submerged post mortem [13], the association in our study was time-stratified, which simply caused the odds ratio to increase with the same p-value, indicating association between pleural effusion and salt water submersions. Yorulmaz et al [12] likewise found larger amounts of pleural effusion in salt water submersions, but no significant association of pleural effusion in fresh water submersions.…”

“…By post mortem-CT examination Hyodoh et al [13] discovered that the amount of pleural effusion increased in the course of time after death.…”