title: Mathematical model in post-mortem estimation of brain edema using morphometric parameters.
abstract: Current autopsy principles for evaluating the existence of brain edema are based on a macroscopic subjective assessment performed by pathologists. The gold standard is a time-consuming histological verification of the presence of the edema. By measuring the diameters of the cranial cavity, as individually determined morphometric parameters, a mathematical model for rapid evaluation of brain edema was created, based on the brain weight measured during the autopsy. A cohort study was performed on 110 subjects, divided into two groups according to the histological presence or absence of (the - deleted from the text) brain edema. In all subjects, the following measures were determined: the volume and the diameters of the cranial cavity (longitudinal and transverse distance and height), the brain volume, and the brain weight. The complex mathematical algorithm revealed a formula for the coefficient ε, which is useful to conclude whether a brain edema is present or not. The average density of non-edematous brain is 0.967 g/ml, while the average density of edematous brain is 1.148 g/ml. The resulting formula for the coefficient ε is (5.79 x longitudinal distance x transverse distance)/brain weight. Coefficient ε can be calculated using measurements of the diameters of the cranial cavity and the brain weight, performed during the autopsy. If the resulting ε is less than 0.9484, it could be stated that there is cerebral edema with a reliability of 98.5%. The method discussed in this paper aims to eliminate the burden of relying on subjective assessments when determining the presence of a brain edema.
authors.affiliation: Clinical Center of Montenegro, Faculty of Medicine, University of Montenegro, Ljubljanska 1, 20000, Podgorica, Montenegro. Electronic address: com_nr@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Nemanja
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Radojevic
authors.affiliation: Institute of Forensic Medicine "Milovan Milovanovic", School of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Deligradska 31a, 11000, Belgrade, Serbia. Electronic address: bojanabjelogrlic@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Bojana
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Radnic
authors.affiliation: Clinical Center of Montenegro, Faculty of Medicine, University of Montenegro, Ljubljanska 1, 20000, Podgorica, Montenegro. Electronic address: vucinic_j@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Jelena
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vucinic
authors.affiliation: Clinical Center of Montenegro, Faculty of Medicine, University of Montenegro, Ljubljanska 1, 20000, Podgorica, Montenegro. Electronic address: cukicd@t-com.me.
authors.forename: Dragana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Cukic
authors.affiliation: Clinical Center of Montenegro, Faculty of Medicine, University of Montenegro, Ljubljanska 1, 20000, Podgorica, Montenegro. Electronic address: drlazovic@t-com.me.
authors.forename: Ranko
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lazovic
authors.affiliation: Clinical Center of Montenegro, Faculty of Medicine, University of Montenegro, Ljubljanska 1, 20000, Podgorica, Montenegro. Electronic address: basanin@ac.me.
authors.forename: Bogdan
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Asanin
authors.affiliation: Institute of Forensic Medicine "Milovan Milovanovic", School of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Deligradska 31a, 11000, Belgrade, Serbia. Electronic address: slobodan.savic@mfub.bg.ac.rs.
authors.forename: Slobodan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Savic
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000465:Algorithms; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology; D001929:Brain Edema / Q000473:pathology*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D049429:Forensic Pathology / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D009929:Organ Size; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Autopsy; Brain edema; Brain swelling; Cranial cavity