Virtopsy: postmortem imaging of the human heart in situ using MSCT and MRI

In Bern, 80 human corpses underwent postmortem imaging by CT and MRI prior to traditional autopsy until the month of August 2003. Here, we describe the imaging appearance of postmortem alterations-internal livores, putrefaction, postmortem clotting-and distinguish them from the forensic findings of the heart, such as calcification, endocarditis, myocardial infarction, myocardial scarring, injury and other morphological alterations.