PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a worksheet for diagnosing postmortem computed tomography (PMCT) in emergency departments (EDs). MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 49 cases of clinically diagnosed nontraumatic deaths in the ED who underwent total body PMCT were enrolled. PMCT images were prospectively evaluated by four radiologists: two radiologists with 1.5 and 3.5 years of residency and two board-certified radiologists with >20 years of experience. Readers were independently instructed to detect and interpret findings with reference to fatal findings, postmortem features, changes caused by cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and other pathological findings according to a worksheet that was composed of the possible findings previously reported. Agreement on detection and interpretation of findings between each reader was measured using Cohen's kappa coefficients. RESULTS: For the detection of findings, there was substantial agreement among the four readers (kappa > 0.60, P < 0.0001). There was substantial (kappa > 0.60, P < 0.0001) and near-substantial (kappa = 0.60, P < 0.0001) agreement in the interpretation of the finding. CONCLUSION: Results of our study suggest equivalency on diagnosing PMCT regardless of the reader's level of experience. We conclude that the worksheet is useful for diagnosing PMCT in emergency departments.
PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a worksheet for diagnosing postmortem computed tomography (PMCT) in emergency departments (EDs). MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 49 cases of clinically diagnosed nontraumatic deaths in the ED who underwent total body PMCT were enrolled. PMCT images were prospectively evaluated by four radiologists: two radiologists with 1.5 and 3.5 years of residency and two board-certified radiologists with >20 years of experience. Readers were independently instructed to detect and interpret findings with reference to fatal findings, postmortem features, changes caused by cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and other pathological findings according to a worksheet that was composed of the possible findings previously reported. Agreement on detection and interpretation of findings between each reader was measured using Cohen's kappa coefficients. RESULTS: For the detection of findings, there was substantial agreement among the four readers (kappa > 0.60, P < 0.0001). There was substantial (kappa > 0.60, P < 0.0001) and near-substantial (kappa = 0.60, P < 0.0001) agreement in the interpretation of the finding. CONCLUSION: Results of our study suggest equivalency on diagnosing PMCT regardless of the reader's level of experience. We conclude that the worksheet is useful for diagnosing PMCT in emergency departments.
Authors: Michael J Thali; Kathrin Yen; Wolf Schweitzer; Peter Vock; Chris Boesch; Christoph Ozdoba; Gerhard Schroth; Michael Ith; Martin Sonnenschein; Tanja Doernhoefer; Eva Scheurer; Thomas Plattner; Richard Dirnhofer Journal: J Forensic Sci Date: 2003-03 Impact factor: 1.832
Authors: Andreas Christe; Patricia Flach; Steffen Ross; Danny Spendlove; Stephan Bolliger; Peter Vock; Michael J Thali Journal: Leg Med (Tokyo) Date: 2010-07-13 Impact factor: 1.376
Authors: C Jackowski; M Thali; E Aghayev; K Yen; M Sonnenschein; K Zwygart; R Dirnhofer; P Vock Journal: Int J Legal Med Date: 2005-11-19 Impact factor: 2.686
Authors: Kathrin Yen; Karl-Olof Lövblad; Eva Scheurer; Christoph Ozdoba; Michael J Thali; Emin Aghayev; Christian Jackowski; Javier Anon; Nathalie Frickey; Karin Zwygart; Joachim Weis; Richard Dirnhofer Journal: Forensic Sci Int Date: 2007-02-28 Impact factor: 2.395