Postmortem magnetic resonance imaging (PMMRI) demonstration of reversible injury phase myocardium in a case of sudden death from acute coronary plaque change.

ABSTRACT

We report a case of sudden death from acute coronary plaque change in which postmortem magnetic resonance imaging (PMMRI) detected reversible injury phase myocardium. Postmortem computed tomography (PMCT) of the chest showed diffuse ground-glass attenuation (GGA) in both lungs, suggesting pulmonary edema due to cardiac pump failure. T2-weighted imaging (T2WI) of PMMRI delineated the left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD) territory as showing high signal intensity relative to the remaining myocardium. Therefore, we presumed the cause of death was myocardial infarction (MI) of the LAD territory. Autopsy showed acute plaque change in the LAD, however, there were no indications of MI. In this case, autopsy imaging using PMCT and PMMRI was useful as a guide for autopsy.