Postmortem changes of the thyroid on computed tomography

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the radiographic features of the thyroid on postmortem computed tomography (PMCT).

Methods: We studied the bodies of 32 subjects who had been treated and subsequently died in our tertiary care hospital between April and December 2009. The thyroids were imaged by antemortem computed tomography (AMCT), PMCT, and examined by conventional autopsy. Differences between the radiographic features of the thyroid on AMCT and PMCT, and time since AMCT were evaluated statistically.

Results: CT values of the thyroid decreased after death with an average of 114.2 Hounsfield Units (HUs) on AMCT vs. 107.7HU on PMCT (paired t-test, P=0.023). There was no correlation between the elapsed time from AMCT and differences of CT values of the thyroid on AMCT and PMCT (Spearman's rank correlation test, P>0.05).

Conclusion: We showed that CT values of the thyroid decreased after death.