Why the study?
Gross heart dimensions used to estimate heart weight as a surrogate for cardiac hypertrophy can be obtained from postmortem CT or postmortem examination, but comparisons between these methods were needed.
Does postmortem computed tomography compare accurately to postmortem examination in estimating heart weight and determining cardiac hypertrophy?
Does postmortem computed tomography compare accurately to postmortem examination in estimating heart weight and determining cardiac hypertrophy?
Postmortem computed tomography is less accurate than dissection for estimating exact heart weight but is comparable for diagnosing clinically significant cardiac hypertrophy.
PMCT dimensions underestimate heart weight versus dissection; leaves open reliable noninvasive hypertrophy assessment pending validation studies.
An increased heart weight (cardiac hypertrophy) is associated with underlying heart disease and sudden cardiac death. Gross heart dimensions can be used to estimate heart weight as a surrogate for cardiac hypertrophy. These dimensions can be obtained from either postmortem computed tomography or postmortem examination. This study compared the gross heart dimensions, heart weight estimations, and ability to determine cardiac hypertrophy (>400 and >500 g) between these 2 methods. The results showed that gross dimensions from postmortem computed tomography were significantly smaller and overall had less accuracy in estimating heart weight than dissection. In terms of cardiac hypertrophy, both methods were comparable and had reasonably high sensitivity and specificity, albeit having slightly varied characteristics, to determine whether the heart showed hypertrophy.
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Garland et al. (2023) studied this question.
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