Quan Li, Zhu Bao-Li, Fujita Masaki Q, Maeda Hitoshi
Department of Legal Medicine, Osaka City University Medical School, Asahi-machi 1-4-3, Abeno, 545-8585 Osaka, Japan.
Leg Med (Tokyo). 2003 Mar;5 Suppl 1:S335-7. doi: 10.1016/s1344-6223(02)00165-7.
The aim of the present study was to examine the possible application of ultrasonographic (US) densitometry of the lungs to quantitative evaluation of pulmonary edema at autopsy (n=85). A diagnostic ultrasound device LOGIQ alpha200 (GE Yokogawa Medical Systems) equipped with an LH probe (linear, 7.5 MHz) was used and each lobe of the lungs was scanned on the anterior and posterior surfaces after resection. The US density showed a correlation between the left and right lobes, and also between the anterior and posterior surface scans of each lobe. Although there was a correlation between the US density and combined lung weight in total cases, the density ranged very widely when lung weight was below about 1300 g, depending on the cause of death. The density was high in drowning, asphyxia, poisoning and delayed traumatic death, whereas it was usually low in fire death mainly due to burns, hemorrhagic shock and head injury. In the other causes of death, a considerable case-to-case difference was observed independent of the lung weight. These findings suggested a possible contribution of pulmonary edema to high US density, possibly depending on the survival time and irrespective of the blood contents (congestion or postmortem hypostasis).
本研究的目的是探讨肺部超声（US）密度测定法在尸检时（n = 85）对肺水肿进行定量评估的可能应用。使用配备LH探头（线性，7.5 MHz）的诊断超声设备LOGIQ alpha200（GE横河医疗系统公司），在切除后对肺的每个叶的前表面和后表面进行扫描。超声密度在左右肺叶之间以及每个肺叶的前后表面扫描之间均显示出相关性。尽管在所有病例中超声密度与肺总重量之间存在相关性，但当肺重量低于约1300 g时，密度范围非常广泛，这取决于死亡原因。在溺水、窒息、中毒和延迟性创伤死亡中密度较高，而在主要因烧伤、失血性休克和头部损伤导致的火灾死亡中密度通常较低。在其他死亡原因中，观察到与肺重量无关的相当大的个体差异。这些发现表明肺水肿可能是超声密度升高的一个原因，可能取决于存活时间且与血液含量（充血或死后坠积）无关。
