Postmortem radiological imaging of natural causes of death in adults – a review

Abstract

• Natural causes of death represent a significant proportion of cases in forensic investigation • Knowledge about imaging findings of natural causes of death is mandatory • PMCT supports investigating fatalities in natural causes of death cases • PMCT can be implemented as a triage tool Radiological findings of natural causes of death in adults in postmortem imaging are of enormous value for medicolegal investigation. Postmortem computed tomography (PMCT) in particular is increasingly used as a triage tool after external inspection and before a full autopsy. Forensic pathologists and radiologists commonly deal with a wide variety of deaths from natural causes. The most common encountered natural causes of death refer to the cardiovascular, central nervous, respiratory, gastrointestinal and metabolic system. This review provides an overview of the literature on postmortem imaging of the major natural causes of death in adults, categorized by organ systems.