Medizinische Universität Graz Austria/Österreich - Forschungsportal - Medical University of Graz
Gewählte Publikation:
SHR Neuro Krebs Kardio Lipid Stoffw Microb
Neumayer, B; Hassler, E; Petrovic, A; Widek, T; Ogris, K; Scheurer, E.
Age determination of soft tissue hematomas.
NMR Biomed. 2014; 27(11):1397-1402
Doi: 10.1002/nbm.3202
Web of Science
PubMed
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FullText_MUG
- Führende Autor*innen der Med Uni Graz
- Neumayer Bernhard
- Scheurer Eva
- Co-Autor*innen der Med Uni Graz
- Hassler Eva Maria
- Ogris Kathrin
- Petrovic Andreas
- Widek Thomas
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- Abstract:
- In clinical forensic medicine, the estimation of the age of injuries such as externally visible subcutaneous hematomas is important for the reconstruction of violent events, particularly to include or exclude potential suspects. Since the estimation of the time of origin based on external inspection is unreliable, the aim of this study was to use contrast in MRI to develop an easy-to-use model for hematoma age estimation. In a longitudinal study, artificially created subcutaneous hematomas were repetitively imaged using MRI over a period of two weeks. The hemorrhages were created by injecting autologous blood into the subcutaneous tissue of the thigh in 20 healthy volunteers. For MRI, standard commercially available sequences, namely proton-density-weighted, T2 -weighted and inversion recovery sequences, were used. The hematomas' MRI data were analyzed regarding their contrast behavior using the most suitable sequences to derive a model allowing an objective estimation of the age of soft tissue hematomas. The Michelson contrast between hematoma and muscle in the proton-density-weighted sequence showed an exponentially decreasing behavior with a dynamic range of 0.6 and a maximum standard deviation of 0.1. The contrast of the inversion recovery sequences showed increasing characteristics and was hypointense for TI = 200ms and hyperintense for TI =1000ms. These sequences were used to create a contrast model. The cross-validation of the model finally yielded limits of agreement for hematoma age determination (corresponding to ±1.96 SD) of ±38.7h during the first three days and ±54 h for the entire investigation period. The developed model provides lookup tables which allow for the estimation of a hematoma's age given a single contrast measurement applicable by a radiologist or a forensic physician. This is a first step towards an accurate and objective dating method for subcutaneous hematomas, which will be particularly useful in child abuse. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
- Find related publications in this database (using NLM MeSH Indexing)
- Adult -
- Blood -
- Contusions - etiology
- Contusions - pathology
- Female -
- Forensic Medicine - methods
- Hematocrit -
- Hematoma - etiology
- Hematoma - pathology
- Hemoglobins - analysis
- Humans -
- Injections -
- Magnetic Resonance Imaging - methods
- Male -
- Models, Biological -
- Oxygen - blood
- Soft Tissue Injuries - complications
- Soft Tissue Injuries - pathology
- Subcutaneous Fat - pathology
- Subcutaneous Tissue - pathology
- Thigh -
- Time Factors -
- Young Adult -
- Find related publications in this database (Keywords)
- hematoma
- age estimation
- forensic
- soft tissue
- subcutaneous
- contrast
- MRI