title: Postmortem whole-body MRI in traumatic causes of death.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to determine the sensitivity and specificity of postmortem whole-body MRI for typical injuries resulting from traumatic causes of death.
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty cases of accidental death were evaluated with postmortem whole-body MRI. Imaging was conducted according to a standard protocol, and each examination had an average duration of 90 minutes. The imaging findings were correlated with the autopsy findings, which served as the reference standard.
  
  
  RESULTS
  MRI showed the main pathologic process leading to death in 39 of the 40 cases. The sensitivity of postmortem MRI ranged from 100% (pneumothorax) to 40% (fractures of the upper extremities). In general, MRI had a high level of performance for depicting soft-tissue lesions, such as subcutaneous hematoma (e.g., galeal hematoma with a sensitivity 95%). The sensitivity of MRI was remarkably lower for lesions of the upper abdominal organs (liver, 80%; spleen, 50%; pancreas, 60%; kidneys, 66%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Postmortem whole-body MRI had overall good performance for depicting traumatic findings in corpses and therefore may serve an important role as an adjunct to classic autopsy for the forensic examination of cases of traumatic cause of death. However, the reduced sensitivity of postmortem MRI for lacerations of the upper abdominal organs and the observed superimposition of antemortem findings and postmortem findings (e.g., in the pulmonary tissue) in this retrospective study suggest that whole-body postmortem MRI not be recommended as a replacement for classic autopsy.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Forensic Imaging and Virtopsy, Institute of Forensic Medicine, University of Bern, Buehlstrasse 20, CH 3012 Bern, Switzerland. steffen.ross@irm.unibe.ch
authors.forename: Steffen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ross
authors.forename: Lukas
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ebner
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Flach
authors.forename: Rolf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Brodhage
authors.forename: Stephan A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Bolliger
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Christe
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Thali
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001344:Autopsy; D002423:Cause of Death; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005554:Forensic Medicine; D006801:Humans; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted; D007223:Infant; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011180:Postmortem Changes; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D051598:Whole Body Imaging; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000401:mortality*