The cardiothoracic ratio on post-mortem computer tomography

International Journal of Legal Medicine
M JotterandK Michaud

Abstract

In clinical practice, the cardiothoracic ratio (CTR) was first utilized on plain chest radiography, and subsequently with computed tomography (CT) to diagnose cardiomegaly with a threshold of 0.5. Using CTR in forensic practice could help to detect cardiomegaly on post-mortem CT (PMCT) prior to the autopsy. However, an adaption of the threshold could be necessary because of post-mortem changes. Our retrospective study aimed to measure the CTR on PMCT and test the possible influence of variables. We selected 109 autopsy cases in which the heart weight was within normal limits. A forensic pathologist and a radiologist measured separately the CTR on axial and scout views on PMCT. We tested the statistical concordance between the two readers and between the axial and scout view and identified factors that could be associated with a modification of the CTR. The CTR measurements revealed an overestimation of the measurements made on scout compared to axial view. The inter-reader correlation was very high for both views. Among the different variables statistically tested, heart dilatation and body mass index (BMI) were the only two factors statistically associated with an augmentation of the CTR. The CTR can be useful in the diagnosis...Continue Reading

References

Feb 2, 2000·International Journal of Legal Medicine·B Brinkmann
Dec 28, 2010·Cardiovascular Pathology : the Official Journal of the Society for Cardiovascular Pathology·Fabio TavoraJoao Bosco Oliveira
Nov 9, 2011·Journal of Korean Medical Science·Sung Bin ChonSeung-Joon Lee
Jan 21, 2012·Journal of Computer Assisted Tomography·Marc J GollubJennifer Liu
Apr 7, 2012·Forensic Science International : Synergy·Takahisa OkudaTomoya Kobayashi
Nov 1, 2013·Forensic Science, Medicine, and Pathology·Sebastian WinklhoferGaryfalia Ampanozi

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Citations

Jul 26, 2017·International Journal of Legal Medicine·Renaud TroxlerSilke Grabherr
Jul 28, 2019·International Journal of Legal Medicine·M JotterandK Michaud
Sep 7, 2019·Forensic Sciences Research·Katarzyna MichaudSilke Grabherr
Mar 20, 2021·Virchows Archiv : an International Journal of Pathology·Cristina BassoUNKNOWN Association for European Cardiovascular Pathology
Apr 29, 2021·International Journal of Legal Medicine·Vasiliki ChatzarakiGaryfalia Ampanozi
Jun 3, 2021·Journal of Clinical Medicine·Krystian TruszkiewiczPaweł Gać

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