Less invasive autopsy: benefits and limitations of the use of magnetic resonance imaging in the perinatal post-mortem

Cohen, Marta C.; Paley, Martin; Griffiths, Paul D.; Whitby, Elspeth

doi:10.2350/07-01-0213

Cited by 5 publications

(8 citation statements)

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“…Postmortem imaging, whether from a terminated pregnancy or from a stillbirth or early neonatal death, can also provide valuable insights into the nature of acquired or congenital abnormalities (Griffiths et al, 2005, Cohen et al, 2007Nicholl et al, 2007). Conventional post mortem examination after the death of a fetus may be limited by autolysis and the effects of delivery on the brain; image examination of the brain within the skull prior to conventional post-mortem helps confirm the presence and the inter-relationship of individual brain structures.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

MR imaging methods for assessing fetal brain development

Rutherford¹,

Jiang²,

Allsop³

et al. 2008

Developmental Neurobiology

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Fetal magnetic resonance imaging provides an ideal tool for investigating growth and development of the brain in vivo. Current imaging methods have been hampered by fetal motion but recent advances in image acquisition can produce high signal to noise, high resolution 3-dimensional datasets suitable for objective quantification by state of the art post acquisition computer programs. Continuing development of imaging techniques will allow a unique insight into the developing brain, more specifically process of cell migration, axonal pathway formation, and cortical maturation. Accurate quantification of these developmental processes in the normal fetus will allow us to identify subtle deviations from normal during the second and third trimester of pregnancy either in the compromised fetus or in infants born prematurely.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

MR imaging methods for assessing fetal brain development

Rutherford¹,

Jiang²,

Allsop³

et al. 2008

Developmental Neurobiology

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“…Moreover, a novel transdisciplinary research project combines the use of Forensic Medicine, Pathology, Radiology, Image Processing, Physics and Biomechanics with the aim to improve current forensic examination techniques or even develop suitable alternatives [25,26]. The diagnosis was easily identified at the gross examination (b) and confirmed with histology (e, H&E 40x) As in previous investigations conducted in fetal and perinatal PMs [17,[27][28][29], the latest study of coronial autopsies demonstrates a high percentage of agreement between the traditional autopsy and the PM MR/findings. One gross disadvantage of the PM MRI was the "reading" of two cases of acute meningitis as a subdural hemorrhage.…”

Section: Ourexpefiencementioning

confidence: 76%

“…A wrist or knee coil was used with a field of view of 14 cm, matrix size 256 • 256 (in plane resolution of 0.5 mm) and 2 mm slices (no interslice gap) of the whole brain as previously reported [10,[14][15][16][17]. The initial MR images were done to corroborate in utero MR imaging.…”

Section: Mri Techniquementioning

confidence: 99%

“…This information can be vital in cases of suspected infanticide. PM M R / h a s been shown to be a useful complement to the autopsy [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17]. MRI offers a non-invasive, high-resolution imaging of soft tissues.…”

Section: Ourexpefiencementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Since then, we have scanned more than 300 fetuses, infants and young children before conducting the PM examination. MRI is superior to CT scan for examination of the brain, as it provides better grey/white-matter demarcation, even in newborns when there is little myelination [10,[14][15][16][17].…”

Section: Ourexpefiencementioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

The use of magnetic resonance in the hospital and coronial pediatric postmortem examination

Cohen

Whitby

2007

Forens Sci Med Pathol

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The role of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has rapidly progressed from being a research tool to an ancillary pre-autopsy imaging technique and now an adjunct of the postmortem (PM) examination. In this review, we describe our experience with the use of PM MRI over the last 6 years in more than 300 fetal PM examinations, initially as research and finally the most recent use in 30 pediatric coronial autopsies. The pediatric pathologist and the neonatal and fetal radiologist retrospectively measured the impact on diagnosis at each stage of the development of the technique together. All imaging techniques have the advantage of being non-invasive, more acceptable to the public, especially certain religious groups and provide a permanent record of the features observed.

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Post‐mortem apparent resolution of fetal ventriculomegaly: evidence from magnetic resonance imaging

Sebire

Miller²,

Jacques

et al. 2013

Prenatal Diagnosis

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Post-mortem examination, both by traditional neuropathological examination, and post-mortem MRI may fail to confirm prenatal ventriculomegaly in around half of cases. The post-mortem MRI findings indicate that this is due to resolution of ventriculomegaly rather than autopsy artefact, and is presumably a consequence of post-mortem fluid redistribution. Parents should be advised before termination of pregnancy that post-mortem confirmation of ventriculomegaly, especially in mild cases, may not be possible. Antenatal MRI may be a better approach for confirming prenatal ultrasound findings.

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Less invasive autopsy: benefits and limitations of the use of magnetic resonance imaging in the perinatal post-mortem

Cited by 5 publications

References 0 publications

MR imaging methods for assessing fetal brain development

MR imaging methods for assessing fetal brain development

The use of magnetic resonance in the hospital and coronial pediatric postmortem examination

Post‐mortem apparent resolution of fetal ventriculomegaly: evidence from magnetic resonance imaging

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