TY - JOUR
T1 - Postmortem interval estimation using the animal model of postmortem gas volume changes
AU - Iwamoto, Chika
AU - Ohuchida, Kenoki
AU - Okumura, Miki
AU - Usumoto, Yosuke
AU - Kishimoto, Junji
AU - Murata, Masaharu
AU - Ikeda, Noriaki
AU - Hashizume, Makoto
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank all of our laboratory members for valuable discussions. This work was supported in part by JSPS Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas (Grant Numbers: 26108001 , 26108010 ). We appreciate the technical support from Itsuro Kamimura at Maxnet Co., Ltd.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 Elsevier B.V.
Copyright:
Copyright 2018 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2018/5
Y1 - 2018/5
N2 - It is important to estimate the postmortem interval in forensic autopsy. Many methods to estimate the postmortem interval have been reported, and are typically associated with internal examination. However, there are issues such as rejection of autopsy by the family and a lack of forensic doctor in internal examination. Therefore, it is necessary to develop new methods, such as autopsy imaging, that can substitute for internal examination. Here, we first evaluated whether gas volume in the body increased with postmortem interval. Time-dependent X-ray CT imaging of euthanized Crl:CD (SD) rats (n = 3) was performed immediately after euthanasia and at seven subsequent time points up to 168 h (7 days) at 24-hour intervals. The data revealed that gas volume in the body increased in a time-dependent manner. Next, we reconstructed 3D images of isolated gas and calculated the gas volume using Amira software. In all cases, the volume of both portal venous gas and intestinal gas increased in a time-dependent manner. The volume of portal venous gas increased exponentially, while the volume of intestinal gas increased in a linearly with time. These data might be suggested that the postmortem gas volume change is one of indicators for estimating the postmortem interval. In addition, it would be possible to estimate more accurate postmortem interval by combining not only gas volume changes at the above two sites but also gas volume changes of the other sites such as heart cavities, kidney parenchyma, or abdominal aorta.
AB - It is important to estimate the postmortem interval in forensic autopsy. Many methods to estimate the postmortem interval have been reported, and are typically associated with internal examination. However, there are issues such as rejection of autopsy by the family and a lack of forensic doctor in internal examination. Therefore, it is necessary to develop new methods, such as autopsy imaging, that can substitute for internal examination. Here, we first evaluated whether gas volume in the body increased with postmortem interval. Time-dependent X-ray CT imaging of euthanized Crl:CD (SD) rats (n = 3) was performed immediately after euthanasia and at seven subsequent time points up to 168 h (7 days) at 24-hour intervals. The data revealed that gas volume in the body increased in a time-dependent manner. Next, we reconstructed 3D images of isolated gas and calculated the gas volume using Amira software. In all cases, the volume of both portal venous gas and intestinal gas increased in a time-dependent manner. The volume of portal venous gas increased exponentially, while the volume of intestinal gas increased in a linearly with time. These data might be suggested that the postmortem gas volume change is one of indicators for estimating the postmortem interval. In addition, it would be possible to estimate more accurate postmortem interval by combining not only gas volume changes at the above two sites but also gas volume changes of the other sites such as heart cavities, kidney parenchyma, or abdominal aorta.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.legalmed.2017.12.010
DO - 10.1016/j.legalmed.2017.12.010
M3 - Article
C2 - 29571154
AN - SCOPUS:85044099324
VL - 32
SP - 66
EP - 70
JO - Legal Medicine
JF - Legal Medicine
SN - 1344-6223
ER -