Postmortem computed tomographic features in the diagnosis of drowning: a comparison of fresh water and salt water drowning cases

Purpose

To investigate the effectiveness of postmortem computed tomography in the diagnosis of drowning, focusing on the comparison of fresh water and salt water cases using three-dimensionally (3D) reconstructed data.

Materials and methods

We examined features of drowning in 25 fresh water drowning cases (FWDCs; 13 men, 12 women; mean age 73.1 years; range 43–95 years), and compared these with 12 salt water drowning cases (SWDCs; 5 men, 7 women; mean age 66.0 years; range 55–77 years). Pulmonary opacities, volume and density (CT number) of accumulated fluid in the paranasal sinuses and central airways, volume of the stomach/stomach contents, and cardiac blood density were examined.

Results

In SWDCs, pulmonary ground-glass opacities with wholly thickened interstitium was frequently identified (P = 0.0274). Whereas in FWDCs, a significantly larger volume and lower density of fluid in the paranasal sinuses (P = 0.0195 and P = 0.0104, respectively), lower density of fluid in the central airways (P = 0.0077), lower stomach content density (P = 0.0216), lower density in the left atrium (P = 0.0029), and a difference of density between the atria (P = 0.0247) were observed.

Conclusions

A lower density in the left atrium was observed in FWDCs compared to SWDCs. This finding may be helpful in differentiating between FWDCs and SWDCs.