title: New pitfalls of high-density postmortem computed tomography.
abstract: An 80-year-old female was transferred to the hospital due to a traffic accident. Multiple cranial bone fractures with intracranial hemorrhage and intracranial air were detected. Despite treatment, the patient died after 6h. Twenty-one hours after the patient died, her whole body was scanned by postmortem CT, and a region of high density was detected within the left putamen. The autopsy revealed a cerebral contusion and multiple skull base fractures. Moreover, superabsorbent polymers (SAPs) were found within the left lateral ventricle and adjacent to the putamen, which appeared as a high-density lesion on postmortem CT at the left putamen, where the SAPs were compacted. Both ante- and postmortem conditions should be considered to prevent misdiagnoses based only on postmortem CT.
authors.affiliation: Department of Legal Medicine, Sapporo Medical University School of Medicine, Japan.
authors.forename: Ayumi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kanazawa
authors.affiliation: Department of Legal Medicine, Sapporo Medical University School of Medicine, Japan. Electronic address: hyodoh@sapmed.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Hideki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hyodoh
authors.affiliation: Department of Legal Medicine, Sapporo Medical University School of Medicine, Japan.
authors.forename: Satoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.affiliation: Department of Legal Medicine, Sapporo Medical University School of Medicine, Japan.
authors.forename: Marika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fukuda
authors.affiliation: Department of Legal Medicine, Sapporo Medical University School of Medicine, Japan.
authors.forename: Miho
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Baba
authors.affiliation: Department of Legal Medicine, Sapporo Medical University School of Medicine, Japan.
authors.forename: Shunichiro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Okazaki
authors.affiliation: Department of Legal Medicine, Sapporo Medical University School of Medicine, Japan.
authors.forename: Keisuke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mizuo
authors.affiliation: Department of Legal Medicine, Sapporo Medical University School of Medicine, Japan.
authors.forename: Etsuko
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hayashi
authors.affiliation: Department of Legal Medicine, Sapporo Medical University School of Medicine, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiromasa
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Inoue
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001344:Autopsy; D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D006259:Craniocerebral Trauma / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D003951:Diagnostic Errors; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D005260:Female; D049429:Forensic Pathology; D006801:Humans; D020300:Intracranial Hemorrhages / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology*; D011108:Polymers; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
chemical_list: D011108:Polymers
keywords: Cremation; Pitfall; Postmortem CT; Superabsorbent polymer; Trauma