Postmortem Temporal Changes in Liver and Spleen Stiffness: Evaluation with Shear Wave Elastography in a Rat Model

Abstract

Background/Objectives: Postmortem changes in tissue stiffness and organ morphology are critical for forensic medicine and pathology. Shear wave elastography (SWE) has emerged as a non-invasive tool to assess tissue stiffness, yet its potential for postmortem interval estimation remains underexplored. While previous studies have demonstrated early postmortem alterations in tissue elasticity, the temporal progression of these changes in different organs is not fully understood. This study aims to investigate the temporal changes in liver and spleen stiffness during the postmortem period using SWE and to evaluate the predictive potential of elastographic parameters for postmortem interval estimation. Methods: Twelve male Sprague–Dawley rats were sacrificed via cervical dislocation following deep anesthesia. Postmortem liver and spleen measurements, including longitudinal and short diameters and SWE values (kPa), were recorded at 0, 2, 4, 6, 9, 12, 18, 24, and 36 h. All elastographic measurements were obtained using a 5 mm circular region of interest (ROI) for the liver and a 3 mm ROI for the spleen. Changes over time were analyzed using repeated measures ANOVA, with post hoc Bonferroni corrections applied where necessary. Additionally, Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve analysis and binary logistic regression analysis were performed to assess the predictive accuracy of SWE parameters in estimating postmortem time. Results: Postmortem liver and spleen stiffness exhibited a significant declining trend over time (p < 0.001, η2 = 0.749 and η2 = 0.810, respectively). Liver and spleen dimensions initially increased, reaching peak values around 6 h, followed by a gradual reduction. ROC analysis demonstrated that spleen SWE (AUC = 0.917) and liver SWE (AUC = 0.845) were the strongest predictors of early postmortem time. Binary logistic regression further confirmed that liver and spleen SWE were statistically significant predictors of postmortem time (p = 0.006 and p = 0.020, respectively). Conclusions: This study provides evidence that postmortem liver and spleen stiffness decline progressively over time, while organ dimensions exhibit a biphasic pattern. Elastographic parameters, particularly SWE values, demonstrated strong predictive accuracy in estimating early postmortem intervals. These findings suggest that SWE may serve as a valuable imaging modality for forensic applications, providing objective insights into postmortem biomechanical changes and time-of-death estimation. Further research should explore the applicability of SWE in different tissue types and under varying environmental conditions.