title: Morphometric data on severely and morbidly obese deceased, established on forensic and non-forensic autopsies.
abstract: With the widespread increase in the incidence of obesity, autopsies on severely and morbidly obese deceased have become common in the USA. Standard reference tables for organ weights provide little or no information on individuals with a body mass index greater than 35 kg/m(2). Although several recent reports have provided organ weights for small numbers of morbidly obese persons who died naturally from a variety of causes, these data may have been affected by comorbidities. Furthermore, they did not provide information relative to differences in organ weight based on gender, age, and race. The aim of the present study was to fill this void by developing reference tables for organ weights of severely and morbidly obese individuals. Our study was based on data from 802 forensic and medical autopsies, including 435 cases of death of natural and 367 of non-natural causes. Organ weights were compared between these groups, and reference ranges were generated. Significant variability was found in organ weights especially among deceased older than 40 years who died naturally, suggesting that comorbidities affect organ weight. Reference tables were compiled for organ weights and morphometric data based on gender, age, and race. Since obesity is a pathological condition affecting organ weight, these reference tables do not reflect normal organ weights but only weight as seen in severely and morbidly obese individuals. They should be useful to pathologists who perform forensic and non-forensic autopsies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, The Ohio State University, 333 W 10th Ave, Graves Hall, B078, Columbus, OH, 43210, USA. sergey.brodsky@osumc.edu.
authors.forename: Sergey V
authors.initials: SV
authors.lastname: Brodsky
authors.affiliation: American Forensics, LLC, Dallas, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Amy C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Gruszecki
authors.affiliation: Office of Chief Medical Examiner, Concord, NH, USA.
authors.forename: Kim
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fallon
authors.affiliation: The Fulton County Medical Examiner Center, Atlanta, GA, USA.
authors.forename: Melissa A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Pasquale-Styles
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, The Ohio State University, 333 W 10th Ave, Graves Hall, B078, Columbus, OH, 43210, USA.
authors.forename: Sophia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shaddy
authors.affiliation: The Center for Biostatistics, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA.
authors.forename: Vedat
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Yildiz
authors.affiliation: American Forensics, LLC, Dallas, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Sarah K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Long
authors.affiliation: American Forensics, LLC, Dallas, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Michelle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: MacDonell
authors.affiliation: Office of Chief Medical Examiner, Concord, NH, USA.
authors.forename: Renee L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Brideau
authors.affiliation: Office of Chief Medical Examiner, Concord, NH, USA.
authors.forename: Joanne
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Keane
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, The Ohio State University, 333 W 10th Ave, Graves Hall, B078, Columbus, OH, 43210, USA.
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Allenby
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, The Ohio State University, 333 W 10th Ave, Graves Hall, B078, Columbus, OH, 43210, USA.
authors.forename: Iouri
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ivanov
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, The Ohio State University, 333 W 10th Ave, Graves Hall, B078, Columbus, OH, 43210, USA.
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Moore
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, The Ohio State University, 333 W 10th Ave, Graves Hall, B078, Columbus, OH, 43210, USA.
authors.forename: Stephen M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, The Ohio State University, 333 W 10th Ave, Graves Hall, B078, Columbus, OH, 43210, USA.
authors.forename: Taha
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sachak
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, The Ohio State University, 333 W 10th Ave, Graves Hall, B078, Columbus, OH, 43210, USA.
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ball
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, The Ohio State University, 333 W 10th Ave, Graves Hall, B078, Columbus, OH, 43210, USA.
authors.forename: Keluo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.affiliation: The Comprehensive Transplant Center, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA.
authors.forename: Iyore
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: James
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, The Ohio State University, 333 W 10th Ave, Graves Hall, B078, Columbus, OH, 43210, USA.
authors.forename: Navin
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Muni
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, The Ohio State University, 333 W 10th Ave, Graves Hall, B078, Columbus, OH, 43210, USA.
authors.forename: Rolf F
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Barth
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001344:Autopsy; D015992:Body Mass Index; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology*; D009767:Obesity, Morbid / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology*; D009929:Organ Size / Q000502:physiology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Autopsy; Morbid obesity; Morphometry; Organ weight