The infusion effect in postmortem lung CT

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the influence of infusion on cadaver lung, and to evaluate the mechanism of increasing lung density in postmortem CT. From December 2017 to January 2018, 6 New Zealand White rabbits were examined by postmortem CT with saline injection (total 80 cml, and 160 ml) after humane killing. Postmortem CT finding on lung field, and hisopathological evaluation were compared. The average CT densities were antemortem (-524.8 ± 16.1 HU), 80 ml injection (-474.2 ± 25.9 HU) and 160 ml injection (-225.3 ± 23.1 HU), and there was no significant difference between antemortem and the 80 ml injection group, but the 160 ml injection group presented statistically increased lung density compared with antemortem and the 80 ml injection group. From segmented volume data analysis, after saline infusion, the aerated lung area and less edematous lung area decreased their volumes. In addition, highly edematous lung area, organ parenchymal area, and blood and/or calcification area increased. In contrast, the lung volume was not changed. In conclusion, depending on the infusion volume, the average lung density increases, the aerated lung volume decreases, and the edematous lung volume increases in postmortem CT.