An autopsy case of misdiagnosis based on postmortem computed tomography findings

A middle-aged man was found lying beside his bicycle on an early winter morning. The cause of death was diagnosed by clinicians as traumatic intracerebral hemorrhage and cerebral contusion with frontal bone fracture based on the findings of Computed Tomography (CT) of the head. However, forensic autopsy revealed that there were no evidences of intracerebral hemorrhage and left frontal bone fracture but the defect of golf ball size on the frontal lobe which was considered to be a complication from the old cerebral contusion and old bone fracture. The bleeding and pooling blood from subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) to the frontal lobe defect had the appearance of an intracerebral hemorrhage. Disruption of left renal artery was found and the cause of death was diagnosed as massive hemorrhage due to this rupture. Although postmortem CT is a useful tool for obtaining information on the body prior to conducting an autopsy, it should be used with extreme caution.