Purpose: The purpose of this retrospective study was to examine the reliability of virtually estimated abdominal blood volume using segmentation from postmortem computed tomography (PMCT) data.
Materials and methods: Twenty-one cases with free abdominal blood were investigated by PMCT and autopsy. The volume of the blood was estimated using a manual segmentation technique (Amira, Visage Imaging, Germany) and the results were compared to autopsy data. Six of 21 cases had undergone additional post-mortem computed tomographic angiography (PMCTA).
Results: The virtually estimated abdominal blood volumes did not differ significantly from those measured at autopsy. Additional PMCTA did not bias data significantly.
Conclusion: Virtual estimation of abdominal blood volume is a reliable technique. The virtual blood volume estimation is a useful tool to deliver additional information in cases where autopsy is not performed or in cases where a postmortem angiography is performed.
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