Synopsis of Postmortem CT and CT Angiography for Death Investigation

목차

Part I. Application of CT in postmortem imaging – an emerging subspecialty of radiology
Chapter 1. Brief history of forensic imaging • 03
Chapter 2. Fundamental aspects of X-ray computed tomography • 06
Chapter 3. Postmortem CT and CT angiography • 15

Part II. Traumatic death
Chapter 4. Blunt force trauma • 28
Chapter 5. Penetrating injuries • 53
Chapter 6. Blast injury • 72

Part III. Death by asphyxiation
Chapter 7. Strangulation • 80
Chapter 8. Drowning • 85

Part IV. Nontraumatic death
Chapter 9. Deaths by natural causes • 94
Chapter 10. Death with medicolegal issues • 140

Part V. Artifacts frequently found on postmortem CT and CTA
Chapter 11. Perimortem intervention and CTA-specific artifacts • 152
Chapter 12. Decomposition • 160


서문

The idea for writing the book “Synopsis of Postmortem CT and CT Angiography for Death Investigation”
originated from a sincere and longstanding collaboration between clinical radiologists at Soonchunhyang
University Hospital Bucheon and forensic pathologists working for the National Forensic Service, Republic
of Korea (NFS Korea). Over the past 10 years, they have been at the forefront of introducing and operating
computed tomography (CT) systems in forensic and medicolegal death investigations in Korea. Their unique
partnership helped them to implement a head-to-head comparison between imaging findings and autopsy
results. This direct radiological-pathological comparison has provided excellent learning tools and
opportunities for both radiologists and pathologists to address a wide variety of challenging forensic and
medicolegal questions. We believe that this collaboration of expertise based on mutual understanding will
continue to benefit forensic science for many years to come.

Postmortem CT and CT angiography have gained increasing attention in the field of death investigation
worldwide. These CT techniques are useful in screening for potential pathologies, guiding subsequent
autopsy dissection to the target area, and identifying lesions that are difficult or impossible to detect
during conventional autopsy dissection. This book introduces radiologists to emerging postmortem CT
techniques while providing essential knowledge of typical postmortem body changes or artifacts to prevent
misinterpretation of those findings as true pathologies. Additionally, this book provides forensic
pathologists with a technical basis and interpretive fundamentals for the application of modern CT imaging
technologies to their daily routine. In this book, particular focus has been placed on the pictorial
depiction of representative cases that demonstrate the diagnostic utility of CT imaging in death
investigations. These cases have been presented in a few relevant images using various reconstruction
techniques to condense the corresponding diagnostic information in an intuitive manner. Furthermore,
autopsy photographs and brief forensic explanations have been included in most cases, thus facilitating a
comprehensive understanding of the utility of CT imaging by direct comparison between radiological and
pathological findings.