INTRODUCTION: Post-mortem cardiac MR exams present with different contraction appearances of the left ventricle in cardiac short axis images. It was hypothesized that the grade of post-mortem contraction may be related to the post-mortem interval (PMI) or cause of @entity204 and a phenomenon caused by @entity5084 that may give further insights in the circumstances of @entity204 . METHOD AND MATERIALS: The cardiac contraction grade was investigated in 71 post-mortem cardiac MR exams (mean age at @entity204 52 y, range 12-89 y; 48 males, 23 females). In cardiac short axis images the left ventricular lumen volume as well as the left ventricular myocardial volume were assessed by manual segmentation. The quotient of both (LVQ) represents the grade of @entity296 . LVQ was correlated to the PMI, sex, age, cardiac weight, body mass and height, cause of @entity204 and @entity2293 when present. In cardiac causes of @entity204 a separate correlation was investigated for acute @entity583 cases and arrhythmic deaths. RESULTS: LVQ values ranged from 1.99 (maximum dilatation) to 42.91 (maximum contraction) with a mean of 15.13. LVQ decreased slightly with increasing PMI, however without significant correlation. Pericardial tamponade positively correlated with higher LVQ values. Variables such as sex, age, body mass and height, cardiac weight and cause of @entity204 did not correlate with LVQ values. There was no difference in LVQ values for @entity583 without tamponade and arrhythmic deaths. CONCLUSION: Based on the observation in our investigated cases, the phenomenon of post-mortem @entity296 cannot be explained by the influence of the investigated variables, except for @entity2293 cases. Further research addressing post-mortem @entity296 has to focus on other, less obvious factors, which may influence the early post-mortem phase too.

XXXX at the myocardium investigated by post-mortem magnetic resonance imaging.

@entity296 :: ('MESH:D009202', 'Disease') :: ['myocardial contraction'] @entity2293 :: ('MESH:D002305', 'Disease') :: ['pericardial tamponade'] @entity583 :: ('MESH:D009203', 'Disease') :: ['myocardial infarction'] @entity204 :: ('MESH:D003643', 'Disease') :: ['death'] @entity5084 :: ('MESH:D012298', 'Disease') :: ['internal rigor mortis']
@entity5084 :: (MESH:D012298,Disease) :: ['Rigor mortis']
