Normal postmortem changes in the central nervous system

Last revised by Hamish Smith on 20 Oct 2018

Citation, DOI, disclosures and article data

Citation:

Smith H, Bell D, Normal postmortem changes in the central nervous system. Reference article, Radiopaedia.org (Accessed on 31 May 2023) https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-61127

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-61127

Permalink:

https://radiopaedia.org/articles/61127

rID:

61127

Article created:

18 Jun 2018, Hamish Smith

Disclosures:

At the time the article was created Hamish Smith had no recorded disclosures.

View Hamish Smith's current disclosures

Last revised:

20 Oct 2018, Hamish Smith

Disclosures:

At the time the article was last revised Hamish Smith had no recorded disclosures.

View Hamish Smith's current disclosures

Revisions:

3 times, by 2 contributors - see full revision history and disclosures

Systems:

Central Nervous System, Forensic

Synonyms:

Normal postmortem changes in the CNS

Normal central nervous system postmortem changes refers to the expected changes seen in the central nervous system with postmortem imaging.

Radiographic features

CT

loss of grey-white matter differentiation ^1,2
intracranial and intravascular gas (due to putrefaction) ^1,2
hyperdensity of the dural venous sinuses in a dependent position ³
loss of definition of sulci ¹
"softening" of brain tissue and settling of the tissue against the dependent part of the skull ¹
eventually the brain becomes isodense to water ¹