PNEUMATOCELES AS A MARKER OF CHEST TRAUMA IN POST-MORTEM CT SCANS

Pneumatoceles (air filled spaces in the lung) have been observed by radiologists associated with trauma and natural disease processes (such as pneumonia). However, they do not feature in forensic literature. This is likely to be due to their collapse during post-mortem examination (when the lungs are examined by sectioning following removal from the chest). The presence of pneumatoceles has been noted on Forensic Science SA post-mortem CT scans of trauma death cases. This project aimed to investigate if the identification of pneumatoceles on post-mortem CT scans could be used as a marker of blunt chest trauma. Although pneumatoceles were not restricted to cases of chest trauma, a chi-squared analysis of 100 cases indicated a significant association of pneumatoceles with blunt chest trauma (p=0.02). However, pneumatoceles were only identified in just over half of the cases that had other pathological evidence of blunt chest trauma, thus limiting the use of this sign.