• Jpn J Radiol · Jun 2010

    Comparative Study

    Quantitative analysis of brain edema and swelling on early postmortem computed tomography: comparison with antemortem computed tomography.

    • Naoya Takahashi, Chihiro Satou, Takeshi Higuchi, Motoi Shiotani, Haruo Maeda, and Yasuo Hirose.
    • Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Niigata City General Hospital, Shumoku, Chuo-ku, Niigata, 950-1197, Japan. nandtr@hosp.niigata.niigata.jp
    • Jpn J Radiol. 2010 Jun 1; 28 (5): 349-54.

    PurposeThe aim of this study was quantitatively to analyze brain edema and swelling due to early postmortem changes using computed tomography (CT) scans of the head.Materials And MethodsReview board approval was obtained, and informed consent was waived. A total of 41 patients who underwent head CT before and shortly after death were enrolled. Hounsfield units (HUs) of gray matter (GM) and white matter (WM) were measured at the levels of the basal ganglia, centrum semiovale, and high convexity area on both antemortem and postmortem CT. The length of the minor axis of the third ventricle at the level of the basal ganglia and the width of the central sulcus at the level of high convexity were measured.ResultsAt each level tested, the HUs of GM and the GM/WM ratios on postmortem CT were significantly lower than those on antemortem CT (P < 0.001). HUs of WM on postmortem CT were slightly higher than those on antemortem CT but without significant difference (P > 0.1). Postmortem CT showed subtle loss of distinction between GM and WM. The size of the third ventricle and the width of the central sulcus did not vary before and after death (P > 0.1).ConclusionEarly postmortem CT shows mild brain edema but does not show brain swelling.

      Pubmed     Full text   Copy Citation     Plaintext  

      Add institutional full text...

    Notes

     
    Knowledge, pearl, summary or comment to share?
    300 characters remaining
    help        
    You can also include formatting, links, images and footnotes in your notes
    • Simple formatting can be added to notes, such as *italics*, _underline_ or **bold**.
    • Superscript can be denoted by <sup>text</sup> and subscript <sub>text</sub>.
    • Numbered or bulleted lists can be created using either numbered lines 1. 2. 3., hyphens - or asterisks *.
    • Links can be included with: [my link to pubmed](http://pubmed.com)
    • Images can be included with: ![alt text](https://bestmedicaljournal.com/study_graph.jpg "Image Title Text")
    • For footnotes use [^1](This is a footnote.) inline.
    • Or use an inline reference [^1] to refer to a longer footnote elseweher in the document [^1]: This is a long footnote..

    hide…