Radiopaque stomach contents in postmortem CT in suicidal oral medication intoxication: report of three cases

Aghayev, Emin; Jackowski, Christian; Christe, Andreas; Thali, Michael (2010). Radiopaque stomach contents in postmortem CT in suicidal oral medication intoxication: report of three cases. Journal of forensic and legal medicine, 17(3), pp. 164-8. Oxford: Elsevier 10.1016/j.jflm.2009.10.001

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In clinical medicine, plane radiography is used for detecting the remains of medications in the stomach in oral medication intoxication cases. Since postmortem computed tomography (CT), performed prior to autopsy, is currently intensively entering the forensic routine, the technique was applied to three fatal cases of oral medication intoxication. Here we report CT and autopsy findings for these cases. In all three cases, hyperdense areas within the stomach content were documented. The measurement of Hounsfield Units (HU) beyond 74HU showed mean values of 338, 88 and 98HU. Postmortem CT also showed brain edema and pulmonary aspiration in one case. At autopsy, tablet remains in the stomach were detected microscopically in all three cases. The ex vivo CT scans of the ingested medicaments showed similar HU values. Despite the fact that further case studies are necessary beyond this one, and in spite of its limitations, postmortem CT was found to be a useful screening and documentation method for stomach contents in oral medication intoxication.

Item Type:	Journal Article (Original Article)
Division/Institute:	04 Faculty of Medicine > Pre-clinic Human Medicine > Institute for Evaluative Research into Orthopaedic Surgery 04 Faculty of Medicine > Department of Radiology, Neuroradiology and Nuclear Medicine (DRNN) > Institute of Diagnostic, Interventional and Paediatric Radiology 04 Faculty of Medicine > Service Sector > Institute of Legal Medicine
UniBE Contributor:	Aghayev, Emin, Christe, Andreas, Thali, Michael
ISSN:	1752-928X
Publisher:	Elsevier
Language:	English
Submitter:	Factscience Import
Date Deposited:	04 Oct 2013 14:07
Last Modified:	05 Dec 2022 14:00
Publisher DOI:	10.1016/j.jflm.2009.10.001
PubMed ID:	20211459
Web of Science ID:	000208316600012
URI:	https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/129 (FactScience: 196394)