title: Analysis of axial prestretch in the abdominal aorta with reference to post mortem interval and degree of atherosclerosis.
abstract: It is a well-known fact that the length of an artery in situ and the length of an excised artery differs. Retraction of blood vessels is usually observed. This prestretch plays an important role in arterial physiology. We have recently determined that the decrease of axial prestretch in the human abdominal aorta is so closely correlated with age that it is suitable for forensic applications (estimation of the age at time of death for cadavers of unknown identity). Since post mortem autolysis may affect the reliability of an estimate based on axial prestretch, the present study aims to detail analysis of the effect of post mortem time. The abdominal aorta is a prominent site of atherosclerotic changes (ATH), which may potentially affect longitudinal prestretch. Thus ATH was also involved in the analysis. Axial prestretch in the human abdominal aorta, post mortem interval (PMI), and the degree of ATH were documented in 365 regular autopsies. The data was first age adjusted to remove any supposed correlation with age. After the age adjustment of the sample, the correlation analysis showed no significant PMI effects on the prestretch in non-putrefied bodies. Analysis of the prestretch variance with respect to ATH suggested that ATH is not a suitable factor to explain the prestretch variability remaining after the age adjustment. It was concluded that, although atherosclerotic plaques may certainly change the biomechanics of arteries, they do not significantly affect the longitudinal prestretch in the human abdominal aorta.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Czech Technical University in Prague, Technicka 4, 166 07 Prague, Czech Republic. Electronic address: lukas.horny@fs.cvut.cz.
authors.forename: Lukas
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Horny
authors.affiliation: Third Faculty of Medicine, Charles University in Prague, Ruska 87, 100 00 Prague, Czech Republic. Electronic address: tomas.adamek@lf3.cuni.cz.
authors.forename: Tomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Adamek
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic Medicine, University Hospital Na Kralovskych Vinohradech, Srobarova 50, 100 34 Prague, Czech Republic. Electronic address: marketa.kulvajtova@fnkv.cz.
authors.forename: Marketa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kulvajtova
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001012:Aorta, Abdominal / Q000473:pathology*; D050197:Atherosclerosis / Q000473:pathology*; D001344:Autopsy; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D055595:Mechanical Phenomena; D008875:Middle Aged; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Age estimation; Aorta; Atherosclerosis; Forensic biomechanics; Post mortem changes