title: Reliability of body size measurements obtained at autopsy: impact on the pathologic assessment of the heart.
abstract: Purpose Assessment of body size at autopsy is important for interpreting organ weight measurements and in some cases body identification. The reliability of post-mortem body size measurements, the causes for perturbations in these measurements from their corresponding pre-mortem values, and the impact of such perturbations on heart weight interpretation have not been fully explored. Methods Autopsy body length and weight measurements and pre-mortem height and body weight measurements were compared in 132 autopsies. Clinical records were evaluated for peripheral edema and serum albumin levels. Causes of death, body cavity fluid collections, and heart weights were obtained from the autopsy reports. A subset of patients underwent quantitative post-mortem computed tomography assessment of anasarca. Results At autopsy, body weight differed from the pre-mortem value by 11 ± 1 %, compared with -0.2 ± 0.3 % for body length (P < 0.0001). The percent change in body weight at autopsy correlated with the presence of peripheral edema (14 ± 2 % vs. 7 ± 2 %, P = 0.01), serum albumin < 3.0 g/dL (16 ± 2 % vs. 7 ± 2 %, P = 0.001), and the degree of anasarca (P = 0.01). In 4 % of autopsies, heart weights were abnormal based on the pre-mortem body weight, but would be classified as normal based on the elevated post-mortem body weight. Conclusions At autopsy, body weight is a less reliable parameter than body length in correlating with the corresponding pre-mortem measurement. Autopsy body weights are elevated in part due to peripheral edema/anasarca. Alterations in body weight at autopsy can confound the interpretation of organ weight measurements.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Simches Research Building Room 8236, 185 Cambridge Street CPZN, Boston, MA, 02114, USA.
authors.forename: Carmen A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: McCormack
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University of Milano, Milan, Italy.|The Division of Thoracic Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lo Gullo
authors.affiliation: The Division of Thoracic Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Mannudeep K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Kalra
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Simches Research Building Room 8236, 185 Cambridge Street CPZN, Boston, MA, 02114, USA.
authors.forename: Abner
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Louissaint
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Simches Research Building Room 8236, 185 Cambridge Street CPZN, Boston, MA, 02114, USA. jrstone@partners.org.|Center for Systems Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA. jrstone@partners.org.
authors.forename: James R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Stone
mesh_terms: D001344:Autopsy; D001827:Body Height; D001835:Body Weight; D004487:Edema / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D049429:Forensic Pathology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009206:Myocardium / Q000473:pathology*; D009929:Organ Size; D011180:Postmortem Changes; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012709:Serum Albumin
chemical_list: D012709:Serum Albumin
keywords: Autopsy; Body length; Body size; Body weight; Edema