Hussein Maged Nabil, Heinemann Axel, Shokry Dina Ali, Elgebely Mohamed, Pueschel Klaus, Hassan Fatma Mohamed
Forensic Medicine Authority, Ministry of Justice, 14 Berium Eltonsy Street, Elsayda Zainb, Cairo, Egypt.
Department of Legal Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg University, Butenfeld 34, 22529, Hamburg, Germany.
Int J Legal Med. 2022 Jan;136(1):229-235. doi: 10.1007/s00414-021-02732-7. Epub 2021 Oct 27.
The aim of this study is to investigate the ability of postmortem computed tomography (PMCT) to distinguish intraperitoneal decomposition gas from pneumoperitoneum due to intestinal perforation.
This retrospective study investigated the factors affecting intraperitoneal gas in two groups of 14 decedents as detected by postmortem CT performed in the Department of Legal Medicine of Hamburg University. The first group died with a cause of death associated with intestinal perforation, and the second group with other different natural causes of death. These factors include postmortem interval, gas volume, gas distribution, radiology alteration index (RAI), and pneumoperitoneum-associated pathology.
The findings of this study showed the appearance of specific gas distribution patterns and a significant increase in gas volumes in the cases of intestinal perforation. Moreover, postmortem interval and the pneumoperitoneum-associated pathology could help distinguish postmortem-generated gas from pneumoperitoneum.
Based on the findings of this study, we propose that these findings can improve the proper detection of intestinal perforation cases in the future.
本研究旨在探讨尸体计算机断层扫描（PMCT）区分腹腔内分解气体与肠穿孔所致气腹的能力。
这项回顾性研究调查了汉堡大学法医学系对两组各14名死者进行尸体CT检查时影响腹腔内气体的因素。第一组死者的死因与肠穿孔有关，第二组死者有其他不同的自然死因。这些因素包括死后间隔时间、气体量、气体分布、放射学改变指数（RAI）和气腹相关病理。
本研究结果显示，肠穿孔病例出现了特定的气体分布模式，气体量显著增加。此外，死后间隔时间和气腹相关病理有助于区分死后产生的气体和气腹。
基于本研究结果，我们认为这些发现可在未来改进对肠穿孔病例的正确检测。
