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Potentialities of Postmortem Magnetic Resonance Imaging for Identification of Live Birth and Stillbirth

Bulletin of Experimental Biology and Medicine volume 167, pages 823–826 (2019)Cite this article

The potentialities of postmortem MRI for differential diagnosis of stillbirth and death of a live newborn are studied. The results of MRI and pathomorphological studies of autopsy material from 20 stillborns dead at weeks 22-40 of gestation (group 1) and 19 newborns dead at the age of 2 h to 36 days (group 2) are analyzed. Control group has been formed from 7 live newborns aged 1-7 days. Postmortem MRI provides an objective quantitative evaluation of the intensity of MR signal in various tissues and regions. Calculation of the proportions of MR signal intensities in the lung tissue and environmental air and/or pleural fluid and the respiration values promotes an objective differential diagnosis of stillbirth and death of a live newborn. These data are expected to facilitate clearing out the circumstances and the direct cause of death. However, postmortem MRI cannot completely replace autopsy with complex macroscopic and microscopic studies of organs and tissues.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. V. I. Kulakov National Medical Research Center of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Perinatology, Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Moscow, Russia

    U. N. Tumanova, V. M. Lyapin, V. G. Bychenko, A. I. Shchegolev & G. T. Sukhikh

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  1. U. N. Tumanova
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  2. V. M. Lyapin
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  3. V. G. Bychenko
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  4. A. I. Shchegolev
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  5. G. T. Sukhikh
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Correspondence to U. N. Tumanova.

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Translated from Byulleten’ Eksperimental’noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 167, No. 6, pp. 788-792, June, 2019

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Tumanova, U.N., Lyapin, V.M., Bychenko, V.G. et al. Potentialities of Postmortem Magnetic Resonance Imaging for Identification of Live Birth and Stillbirth. Bull Exp Biol Med 167, 823–826 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10517-019-04631-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10517-019-04631-9

Key Words

  • newborn
  • stillborn
  • virtopsy
  • postmortem MRI