Estimation of heart weight by post-mortem cardiac magnetic resonance imaging

Ruder, Thomas; Stolzmann, Paul; Thali, Yannick A.; Hatch, Gary M.; Somaini, Sandra; Bucher, Matthias; Alkadhi, Hatem; Thali, Michael J.; Ampanozi, Garyfalia (2013). Estimation of heart weight by post-mortem cardiac magnetic resonance imaging. Journal of Forensic Radioloy and Imaging, 1(1), pp. 15-18. Elsevier 10.1016/j.jofri.2012.11.001

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Introduction

The aim of this study was to determine which single measurement on post-mortem cardiac MR reflects actual heart weight as measured at autopsy, assess the intra- and inter-observer reliability of MR measurements, derive a formula to predict heart weight from MR measurements and test the accuracy of the formula to prospectively predict heart weight.
Materials and methods

53 human cadavers underwent post-mortem cardiac MR and forensic autopsy. In Phase 1, left ventricular area and wall thickness were measured on short axis and four chamber view images of 29 cases. All measurements were correlated to heart weight at autopsy using linear regression analysis. In Phase 2, single left ventricular area measurements on four chamber view images (LVA_4C) from 24 cases were used to predict heart weight at autopsy based on equations derived during Phase 1. Intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) was used to determine inter- and intra-reader agreement.
Results

Heart weight strongly correlates with LVA_4C (r=0.78 M; p<0.001). Intra-reader and inter-reader reliability was excellent for LVA_4C (ICC=0.81–0.91; p<0.001 and ICC=0.90; p<0.001 respectively). A simplified formula for heart weight ([g]≈LVA_4C [mm2]×0.11) was derived based on linear regression analysis.
Conclusions

This study shows that single circumferential area measurements of the left ventricle in the four chamber view on post-mortem cardiac MR reflect actual heart weight as measured at autopsy. These measurements yield an excellent intra- and inter-reader reliability and can be used to predict heart weight prior to autopsy or to give a reasonable estimate of heart weight in cases where autopsy is not performed.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

04 Faculty of Medicine > Department of Radiology, Neuroradiology and Nuclear Medicine (DRNN) > Institute of Diagnostic, Interventional and Paediatric Radiology

UniBE Contributor:

Ruder, Thomas

Subjects:

600 Technology > 610 Medicine & health

ISSN:

2212-4780

Publisher:

Elsevier

Language:

English

Submitter:

Aisha Stefania Mzinga

Date Deposited:

30 Jun 2014 15:09

Last Modified:

05 Dec 2022 14:34

Publisher DOI:

10.1016/j.jofri.2012.11.001

Uncontrolled Keywords:

Magnetic resonance imaging, Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging, Post-mortem, Heart weight, Forensic radiology, Virtopsy

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/53098

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