OBJECTIVE: To examine the yield of radiographic abnormalities in a population based set of perinatal deaths, the diagnostic value of whole body postmortem radiographs in the same set, and previous factors that may increase the proportion of useful examinations. DESIGN: Retrospective population based study. SETTING: A region of Norway. PATIENTS: All infants from a well defined geographical area who were stillborn or had died soon after birth over an 11 year period (n=542), who had routinely undergone whole body radiography and autopsy. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: (a) Proportion of cases with abnormal radiographic findings. (b) Proportion of abnormal radiographs providing new information that was useful for postmortem diagnosis. RESULTS: Radiographs were abnormal in 162/542 cases (30%). These provided new information about, but did not help to confirm, the pathological process leading to death in 14/162 (8.6%), may have helped to confirm, but not establish, the cause(s) of death in 1/162 (0.6%), and were of vital importance for establishing the cause(s) of death in 5/162 (3.1%). Among infants with external malformations, the proportion of useful radiographs was 12/100 (12%), and among the remainder it was 8/436 (1.8%), a difference of 10.2% (95% confidence interval 3.7% to 16.7%; data missing for six cases). CONCLUSIONS: The diagnostic value of postmortem radiography in this population based set was low. However, radiographic findings were of vital importance for establishing the cause(s) of death in 5/542 cases (0.9%).
OBJECTIVE: To examine the yield of radiographic abnormalities in a population based set of perinatal deaths, the diagnostic value of whole body postmortem radiographs in the same set, and previous factors that may increase the proportion of useful examinations. DESIGN: Retrospective population based study. SETTING: A region of Norway. PATIENTS: All infants from a well defined geographical area who were stillborn or had died soon after birth over an 11 year period (n=542), who had routinely undergone whole body radiography and autopsy. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: (a) Proportion of cases with abnormal radiographic findings. (b) Proportion of abnormal radiographs providing new information that was useful for postmortem diagnosis. RESULTS: Radiographs were abnormal in 162/542 cases (30%). These provided new information about, but did not help to confirm, the pathological process leading to death in 14/162 (8.6%), may have helped to confirm, but not establish, the cause(s) of death in 1/162 (0.6%), and were of vital importance for establishing the cause(s) of death in 5/162 (3.1%). Among infants with external malformations, the proportion of useful radiographs was 12/100 (12%), and among the remainder it was 8/436 (1.8%), a difference of 10.2% (95% confidence interval 3.7% to 16.7%; data missing for six cases). CONCLUSIONS: The diagnostic value of postmortem radiography in this population based set was low. However, radiographic findings were of vital importance for establishing the cause(s) of death in 5/542 cases (0.9%).
Authors: Halit Pinar; Matthew A Koch; Hal Hawkins; Josefine Heim-Hall; Carlos R Abramowsky; Vanessa R Thorsten; Marshall W Carpenter; Hong Holly Zhou; Uma M Reddy Journal: Am J Perinatol Date: 2011-08-03 Impact factor: 1.862
Authors: Owen J Arthurs; Rick R van Rijn; Elspeth H Whitby; Karl Johnson; Elka Miller; Martin Stenzel; Andrew Watt; Ajay Taranath; David H Perry Journal: Pediatr Radiol Date: 2016-07-13
Authors: L J P Sonnemans; M E M Vester; E E M Kolsteren; J J H M Erwich; P G J Nikkels; P A M Kint; R R van Rijn; W M Klein Journal: Eur J Pediatr Date: 2018-04-19 Impact factor: 3.183