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Postmortem imaging of blood and its characteristics using MSCT and MRI

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Abstract

The rapid development of computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) led to the introduction and establishment in postmortem investigations. The objectives of this preliminary study were to describe the imaging appearances of the early postmortem changes of blood after cessation of the circulation, such as sedimentation, postmortem clotting, and internal livores, and to give a few first suggestions on how to differentiate them from other forensic findings. In the Virtopsy project, 95 human corpses underwent postmortem imaging by CT and MRI prior to traditional autopsy and therefore 44 cases have been investigated in this study. Postmortem alterations as well as the forensic relevant findings of the blood, such as internal or subcutaneous bleedings, are presented on the basis of their imaging appearances in multislice CT and MRI.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Elke Spielvogel, Christoph Laeser, Carolina Dobrowolska, and Verena Beutler for their excellent help during the scanning and Urs Königsdorfer and Roland Dorn for their experienced assistance at autopsy. We are also grateful to Therese Périnat for the histological preparations.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Forensic Medicine, University of Bern, IRM-Buehlstrasse 20, 3012, Bern, Switzerland

    C. Jackowski, M. Thali, E. Aghayev, K. Yen & R. Dirnhofer

  2. Institute of Diagnostic Radiology, Inselspital, University of Bern, 3010, Bern, Switzerland

    M. Sonnenschein & P. Vock

  3. Department of Clinical Research, Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy and Methodology, University of Bern, 3010, Bern, Switzerland

    K. Zwygart

Authors
  1. C. Jackowski
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  2. M. Thali
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  3. E. Aghayev
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  4. K. Yen
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  5. M. Sonnenschein
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  6. K. Zwygart
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  7. R. Dirnhofer
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  8. P. Vock
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Correspondence to C. Jackowski.

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Jackowski, C., Thali, M., Aghayev, E. et al. Postmortem imaging of blood and its characteristics using MSCT and MRI. Int J Legal Med 120, 233–240 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-005-0023-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-005-0023-4

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