Postmortem microcomputed tomography (micro-CT) of small fetuses and hearts

Objective To assess the feasibility and utility of contrast-enhanced microcomputed tomography (micro-CT) for identifying structural anomalies in ex-vivo first- and second-trimester human fetuses and isolated fetal hearts.Methods Radiopaque iodine staining and micro-CT scanning protocols were first developed in rodent studies and then used to examine routinely fixed whole human fetuses (n = 7, weight 0.1-90 g, gestational age, 7-17 weeks) and isolated fetal hearts (n = 14, weight 0.1-5.2 g, gestational age, 11-22 weeks). Samples were scanned using an isotropic resolution of 18 (and, if necessary, 9 or 35) μm and findings were interpreted jointly by four fetal pathologists, a fetal cardiologist and a radiologist. Samples with gestational ages ≥ 13 weeks also underwent conventional autopsy or dissection.Results Micro-CT identified all anatomical structures and abnormalities documented by the macroscopic examination. In all seven cases involving fetuses ≤ 13 weeks (four fetuses, three isol...