Abstract: Objective To access application value of multi-slice spiral computed tomography （MSCT） and coronary artery calcium scoring （CACS） in investigation the coronary artery disease （CAD）, and to explore the effective way of virtual autopsy to evaluate the sudden death due to CAD. Methods Nine cases of sudden cardiac death were collected to analyze MSCT before the autopsy. The quantitative analysis of the degree of coronary artery calcium was made by Agatston’s method. The CACS of all the subjects were calculated based on the diagnostic criteria for CAD, in which calcium scoring was more than 400. The results of CACS were compared with that of the autopsy. Results Only 2 cases got the high calcium scoring which were more than 400 in the 9 cases died of CAD confirmed by the autopsy. The prediction rate of CACS for CAD was only 22.2%. Pulmonary edema of different severity was found in both autopsy and MSCT. There was a higher morbidity rate in the left anterior descending of coronary artery than the other branches. Conclusion Obvious calcification of coronary artery can be detected by MSCT and calculating CACS. To detect subtle calcification needs other technologies such as postmortem angiography.

Key words: forensic pathology, tomography, spiral computed, heart, coronary vessel, calcification, autopsy