Postmortem whole-body magnetic resonance imaging as an adjunct to autopsy:Preliminary clinical experience

The purpose of this study was to evaluate whole-body magnetic resonance ima ging (MRI) of cadavers as an adjunct to autopsy. Eight consecutive patients underwent both whole-body MRI and autopsy [either conventional (six), limi ted (one), or percutaneous (one)] within 24 hours of death. Comparison was made of major and minor abnormalities and predicted cause of death recorded by independent readers at both MRI and autopsy. Major discrepancies betwee n the recorded primary cause of death at imaging and autopsy occurred In fi ve (5) patients. These included a myocardial infarction found at autopsy al one, bowel infarction and portal venous gas found at MRI alone, and aortic dissection and occipital Infarct found at MRI alone in a patient on whom on ly limited autopsy was performed. Postmortem MRI may represent a useful adj unct to autopsy, particularly in patients In whom autopsy is limited due to patient/family consent, inoculation risks, and ethnic doctrines. (C) 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc.