Keywords:
Forensics, Screening, Diagnostic procedure, CT, Trauma, Forensic / Necropsy studies, Emergency
Authors:
K. Ito; Kamogawa, Chiba pref./JP
DOI:
10.1594/ecr2012/C-0730
Methods and Materials
1.
Patients
a.
Inclusion criteria
During March 1st,
2009 to November 30th,
2011,
a patient wherein a PMCT was performed at Kameda Medical Center (Kamogawa,
Chiba,
JAPAN) was entered into our study. At Kameda Medical Center,
PMCT studies were performed on patients who received pathological autopsy following their death,
and on patient's who deceased shortly after admission to our emergency room. In these former cases,
it was utilized as a screening method before autopsy and,
in the latter cases,
it was utilized to help determine cause of death.
b.
Exclusion criteria
Those excluded from our study were 1) patients younger than 18 years old,
2) patients who were in hospital stay when they died.
2.
PMCT Data collection protocol
Multislice CT was performed on a Philips Brilliance CT 64-slice unit (Royal Philips Electronics,
Netherlands). Axial slices were acquired with a collimation of 0.625mm x 64 detectors; 2 mm sections,
and 0.923 mm helical pitch by 120 kV 250 mA,
also sagittal and coronal reformations were calculated. The PMCT scans took between 10 to 15 min.
3.
Image Analysis
A board-certified and well trained for PMCT radiologist evaluated the CT scans. Their clinical histories,
symptoms,
and blood examination data were referred form their medical records.