NCJ Number
222361
Journal
Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume: 53 Issue: 2 Dated: March 2008 Pages: 465-468
Date Published
March 2008
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This article describes the first application of poly ethylene glycol (PEG) with an angiographic CT (computed tomography) examination in the autopsy of a whole human corpse.
Abstract
A minimally invasive postmortem CT angiography was performed in a human corpse, using the high viscosity contrast agent solution that contained 65 percent of PEG. Injection of PEG was through the femoral artery into the aortic root in simulated cardiac output conditions. Subsequent CT scanning produced the three-dimensional volume data of the whole corpse. Visualization of the arterial anatomy was excellent, and the contrast-agent distribution was generally limited to the arterial system as intended. There was an unexpectedly enhanced brain visualization within the CT images. This allowed an assessment of the anatomical structures of the brain and cerebellum that has so far only been achieved with the MRI. In addition to the brain, the renal cortex showed enhancement, as well as the left ventricular myocardium. The authors conclude that the exceptional soft-tissue enhancement was most likely due to a local increase in blood supply by dilation of precapillary arterioles at the time of death. The contrast-agent distribution within the soft tissues of the body was distinctively reduced by the use of the high viscosity PEG solution. The authors suggest that the described procedure of whole-corpse CT angiography is particularly useful in cases of malpractice in surgery, when small-vessel lesions as a bleeding source need to be visualized, when cardiac vessel dissection is expected to be complicated, or in suspected cases of aneurism-caused subarachnoid hemorrhage. 2 figures and 14 references