title: Postmortem abdominal radiographic findings in feline cadavers.
abstract: Postmortem radiographic examinations of animals are commonly performed in judicial investigations to rule out gunshot and fractures. However, there was no available data on radiographic postmortem changes of animals. Forty-one sets of abdominal radiographs of feline cadavers made within 12 h of death were evaluated for postmortem changes. Intravascular gas was detected in 11 of 41 (27%) cadavers. The most common site of intravascular gas was the liver. Intravascular gas was also present in the aorta, femoral artery, celiac and cranial mesenteric arteries, and caudal superficial epigastric artery. Intrasplenic gas was detected in two cadavers. Only two cadavers had distended small intestine. One cadaver had pneumatosis coli. The changes detected were most likely due to putrefaction.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia. hheng@purdue.edu
authors.forename: Hock Gan
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Heng
authors.forename: Wen Tian
authors.initials: WT
authors.lastname: Teoh
authors.forename: Abdul Rahman
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Sheikh-Omar
mesh_terms: D000007:Abdominal Injuries / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary*; D000827:Animal Welfare / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D000818:Animals; D001344:Autopsy / Q000662:veterinary; D002371:Cat Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology*; D002415:Cats; D011180:Postmortem Changes; D011859:Radiography / Q000662:veterinary; D012189:Retrospective Studies