{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,27]],"date-time":"2026-03-27T13:23:37Z","timestamp":1774617817048,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":16,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,11,12]],"date-time":"2024-11-12T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1731369600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"protected research time from the career development program \u201cFilling the Gap\u201d of the University of Zurich, Switzerland"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Medical Sciences"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Purpose: To assess (I) whether, in autopsy-proven lethal intoxications with opiates\/opioids, a dilatation of the common bile duct (CBD) is still visible in postmortem computed tomography (PMCT) and (II) if a dilatation of the CBD might also be measurable for other substance groups (e.g., stimulants, hypnotics, antipsychotics, etc.). Methods: We retrospectively measured the CBD using PMCT in cases with lethal intoxication (n = 125) and as a control group in cases with a negative toxicological analysis (n = 88). Intoxicating substances were classified into the subgroups (opiates, opioids, stimulants, hypnotics, antipsychotics, gasses, and others). Significance between the study and control groups was tested with the Mann\u2013Whitney U test, and correlations were examined by using crosstables. Results: There was a statistically significant difference between the CBD diameters in the intoxication group overall, when compared to the CBD diameter in the control group (p &lt; 0.001). For both subgroups of \u201copiates\u201d and \u201copioids\u201d, there was a strong statistically significant difference between the CBD diameter (being wider) in those groups compared to the control group (both p = 0.001). For the three subgroups \u201chypnotics\u201d, \u201cstimulants\u201d, and \u201cpsychotropic drugs\u201d, there was no statistically significant difference between the CBD diameters in the intoxication subgroups when compared with the control group. The other subgroups were too small for statistical analysis. Conclusion: A dilated common bile duct in postmortem computed tomography might be used as an indication for a lethal opioid or opiate intoxication only in regard to the specific case circumstances or together with other indicative findings in a postmortem investigation.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/medsci12040065","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,11,12]],"date-time":"2024-11-12T06:28:32Z","timestamp":1731392912000},"page":"65","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["The Correlation of Bile Duct Dilatation in Postmortem Computed Tomography of Lethal Intoxication Cases for Different Drug Types\u2014A Retrospective Study"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"12","author":[{"given":"Barbara","family":"Fliss","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Legal Medicine, Johannes-Gutenberg University Mainz, 55131 Mainz, Germany"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Kirththanan","family":"Krishnarajah","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Forensic Medicine, University of Zurich, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Lars","family":"Ebert","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Zurich Forensic Science Institute, 8010 Zurich, Switzerland"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5150-268X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Cora","family":"Wunder","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Legal Medicine, Johannes-Gutenberg University Mainz, 55131 Mainz, Germany"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8326-0777","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sabine","family":"Franckenberg","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Forensic Medicine, University of Zurich, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland"},{"name":"Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, University Hospital of Zurich, University of Zurich, 8091 Zurich, Switzerland"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,11,12]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"174","DOI":"10.1053\/j.semnuclmed.2008.12.002","article-title":"Interventions Used with Cholescintigraphy for the Diagnosis of Hepatobiliary Disease","volume":"39","author":"Ziessman","year":"2009","journal-title":"Semin. 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Radiol."}],"container-title":["Medical Sciences"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2076-3271\/12\/4\/65\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,10]],"date-time":"2025-10-10T16:30:26Z","timestamp":1760113826000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2076-3271\/12\/4\/65"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2024,11,12]]},"references-count":16,"journal-issue":{"issue":"4","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,12]]}},"alternative-id":["medsci12040065"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/medsci12040065","relation":{},"ISSN":["2076-3271"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2076-3271","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2024,11,12]]}}}