Comparative analysis of CT virtual autopsy and traditional autopsy: A report of 3 cases

Abstract

The objective of the study is to compare the results of virtual autopsy and traditional autopsy and then to analyze the advantages and disadvantages of them. three cases with postmortem computed tomography (CT) examination and autopsy were selected. The CT images were sent to radiologists for interpretation and were compared with autopsy results. In the cases of death in traffic accidents, the two examination conclusions are relatively consistent; in the cases of sudden cardiac death, the information provided by virtual autopsy is limited; virtual autopsy has more strength on showing some lesions such as pneumatosis and fracture. Virtual autopsy has high application value in traffic accident cases, while its application in some sudden death cases remains to be improved.

Keywords

• computed tomography
• forensic pathology
• sudden cardiac death
• traffic accident
• virtual autopsy