Can post-mortem computed tomography be considered an alternative for autopsy in deaths due

Can post-mortem computed tomography be considered an alternative for autopsy in deaths due

to hemopericardium?

Lorenzo Gitto;Serenella Serinelli;Francesco P Busard;Valeria Panebianco;Giorgio Bolino;Aniello Maiese

【期刊名称】《老年心脏病学杂志（英文版）》 【年(卷),期】2014(000)004

【摘要】Hemopericardium is a common finding at autopsy, but it may represent a challenge for the forensic pathologist when the etiopathologi-cal relationship in causing death is requested. Hemopericardium and cardiac tamponade can be evaluated in living people using radiological techniques, in particular computer tomography (CT). Only a few studies are reported in literature involving post-mortem (PM) cases, where PMCT imaging has been used in order to investigate acute hemopericardium, and they have shown a good accuracy of this technique. Here we report a case involving a 70-year-old white male found dead on the beach, with a medical history of hepatitis C and chronic hypertension with a poor pharmacological response. A PMCT was performed about 3 h after the discovery of the body. The PMCT examination showed an intrapericardial aortic dissection associated to a periaortic hematoma, a sickle-shaped intramural hematoma, a false lumen, and a hemop-ericardium