Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40646594›Full record

ArticleJournal of forensic sciences2025

Post-mortem cardiomegaly descriptor: Call for consistent criteria.

Mark W Kroll, Dwayne A Wolf, Klaus Witte, Hugh Calkins, Sebastian N Kunz, Howard E Williams

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of forensic sciences, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Mark W KrollBiomedical Engineering, University of Minnesota, Crystal Bay, Minnesota, USA.
Dwayne A WolfDeputy Coroner, Lucas County, Toledo, Ohio, USA.
Klaus WitteUniversity of Leeds, Leeds, UK.
Hugh CalkinsJohns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Sebastian N KunzInstitute of Forensic Medicine, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany.
Howard E WilliamsSchool of Criminal Justice and Criminology, Texas State University, San Marcos, Texas, USA.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Although the post-mortem descriptor of cardiomegaly is an important component of understanding a sudden death, there is no unified definition. A recent survey reported the usage of heart weight correction models of Molina or Kitzman, for example, or simple step cutoffs such as 350, 400, 450, or 500 g in common use. The goal of the present study was to determine how a diagnosis of cardiomegaly relates to these definitions and heart weight using a database of sudden deaths using 1071 autopsy reports from across the USA in which the heart weight and the presence (n = 373) or not (n = 698) of cardiomegaly were recorded. We found that medical examiners appear not to use corrections for body weight but instead rely on step weight cutoffs, predominantly of 350, 400, 450, and 500 g. The decedent's age, weight, ethnicity, and toxicology did not tend to influence a diagnosis of cardiomegaly. The term cardiomegaly is being used with increasing frequency with an average increase of 3.6% per year. Consistency in the post-mortem use of cardiomegaly is lacking.

Indexed as

CardiomegalyTerminology as TopicAdolescentAdultAgedAged, 80 and overBody WeightChildChild, PreschoolCoroners and Medical ExaminersDatabases, FactualDeath, SuddenFemaleForensic PathologyHumansInfantautopsycardiomegalydiagnosisforensic pathologyheart diseasesudden cardiac death

Identifiers

PMID40646594
PMCPMC12584129

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.