Objective To investigate the time regularity by the computed tomographic images from lungs of the rabbit died from different causes. Methods Three death models of hemorrhagic shock, air embolism and strangulation were respectively established for rabbit. The rabbit’s lungs were observed with thin spiral CT scanning at different postmortem intervals (PMI) and analyzed by professional CT image analysis software so that the ratio of lung area / thoracic area and the average lung CT values were determined. Results For the three death models, the average lung CT values were all at the beginning increased then decreased with the PMI ascending. The ratio of lung area / thoracic area showed a similar trend within 129 h of PMI: its declining rate was low at the early stage, followed to a rapid change, and finally appeared slow again. For each of the three death models, multiple regression analysis was individually set up with PMI as the dependent variable and either the ratio of lung area / thoracic area or the average lung CT value as predictor, yielding several formulae of statistical significance (P<0.05). R2 was ranging from 0.437 to 0.551 for the average lung CT value and from 0.881 to 0.927 for the lung area / thoracic area. Conclusions The nonlinear regression equation of the lung tissue area / thoracic area can be applied to delimitate the PMI, especially the late PMI, making it a new potential tool for estimation of PMI in forensic medicine.
Key words
postmortem interval /
CT /
lung
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