Abstract
Fatal outcomes after hospital treatment are of particular interest for clarification of their causes, particularly when they occur unexpectedly or following surgery or intervention. Postmortem imaging methods offer an excellent opportunity for confirming clinical findings or supplementing them, which can be understood as a part of clinical quality assurance process. An accusation regarding medical malpractice can be clarified by a legal autopsy, which should be complemented by postmortem angiography when acute injuries from punctures or catheter systems are a concern. The malposition of a medical device such as an indwelling catheter, a drainage catheter, or a respiratory tube in native postmortem computed tomography (PMCT) can serve as an indication for multiphase PMCT angiography. A particular strength of postmortem angiography is the detection of hemorrhage sources caused by complications under catheter-based cardiovascular interventions. Hemorrhage complications are demonstrated in cases of cardiac catheterizations and after endovascular aortic stenting for the treatment of aneurysms and dissections. Complications from punctures often are associated with emergencies, as shown by intracardiac malposition of catheters for pericardiocentesis, which may intensify an existing tamponade or even cause one, thus contributing to the death of a patient.
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Vogel, H., Heinemann, A. (2016). Postmortem Angiography and Clinical Pathology. In: Grabherr, S., Grimm, J., Heinemann, A. (eds) Atlas of Postmortem Angiography. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28537-5_24
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28537-5_24
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