AIM: To determine the accuracy and define the limitations of post mortem magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in determining the cause of @entity944 in adults. METHODS AND RESULTS: Sudden unexpected adult @entity204 in the community, reported to the Coroner (n = 10), excluding suspicious, violent or potentially drug-related @entity204 , were submitted to whole body MRI, followed by full invasive autopsy. The MRI scans were reported independently by four radiologists, blinded to the autopsy findings; two had previous experience of post mortem MRI. An abnormality that related to the cause of @entity204 as identified at autopsy, was identified by at least one radiologist in eight cases. These were @entity358 (autopsy finding @entity55 ) (n = 1), @entity516 (autopsy finding perforated peptic ulcer) (n = 2), @entity1002 (autopsy finding @entity299 ) (n = 4), and disseminated @entity153 (n = 1). However, in only one case were all radiologists able to provide a confident cause of @entity204 (disseminated @entity153 ). In two cases, in which @entity204 occurred 2-6 days and 3-6 days before MRI, early decomposition prevented interpretation of the images. Severe @entity453 was detected at autopsy in 7/10, but these lesions were not detected by MRI. Previous experience in reporting post mortem MRI, without autopsy comparison, did not result in more accurate interpretation of the images. CONCLUSIONS: This pilot study suggests that post mortem MRI can identify some abnormalities relating to the common causes of @entity944 in adults, but there is a need for greater experience in correlating MRI with autopsy findings before a reliable cause of @entity204 can be made by MRI alone. Inability to image coronary artery lesions, differentiating @entity715 from clot and @entity4 from pneumonic exudates, are specific problems that may be corrected with greater experience and higher resolution scans.

Accuracy of magnetic resonance imaging in determining cause of XXXX in adults: comparison with conventional autopsy.

@entity55 :: ('MESH:D011014', 'Disease') :: ['pneumonia'] @entity944 :: ('MESH:D003645', 'Disease') :: ['sudden death'] @entity4 :: ('MESH:D004487', 'Disease') :: ['pulmonary oedema'] @entity358 :: ('MESH:D008171', 'Disease') :: ['pulmonary consolidation'] @entity153 :: ('MESH:D002283', 'Disease') :: ['bronchial carcinoma'] @entity453 :: ('MESH:D003324', 'Disease') :: ['coronary artery atheroma'] @entity299 :: ('MESH:D006331', 'Disease') :: ['ischaemic heart disease'] @entity516 :: ('MESH:D011027', 'Disease') :: ['pneumoperitoneum'] @entity204 :: ('MESH:D003643', 'Disease') :: ['death', 'deaths'] @entity715 :: ('MESH:D013927', 'Disease') :: ['thrombus'] @entity1002 :: ('MESH:D018487', 'Disease') :: ['left ventricular failure']
@entity944 :: (MESH:D003645,Disease) :: ['sudden death']
