title: Postmortem changes of the thyroid on computed tomography.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the radiographic features of the thyroid on postmortem computed tomography (PMCT).
  
  
  METHODS
  We studied the bodies of 32 subjects who had been treated and subsequently died in our tertiary care hospital between April and December 2009. The thyroids were imaged by antemortem computed tomography (AMCT), PMCT, and examined by conventional autopsy. Differences between the radiographic features of the thyroid on AMCT and PMCT, and time since AMCT were evaluated statistically.
  
  
  RESULTS
  CT values of the thyroid decreased after death with an average of 114.2 Hounsfield Units (HUs) on AMCT vs. 107.7HU on PMCT (paired t-test, P=0.023). There was no correlation between the elapsed time from AMCT and differences of CT values of the thyroid on AMCT and PMCT (Spearman's rank correlation test, P>0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We showed that CT values of the thyroid decreased after death.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan. masanoriishida@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Masanori
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ishida
authors.forename: Wataru
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Gonoi
authors.forename: Kazuchika
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hagiwara
authors.forename: Yutaka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Takazawa
authors.forename: Masaaki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Akahane
authors.forename: Masashi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fukayama
authors.forename: Kuni
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ohtomo
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011180:Postmortem Changes; D011859:Radiography; D013961:Thyroid Gland / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000502:physiology*; D015898:Tomography Scanners, X-Ray Computed