An attempt at objectivity of post mortem diagnostic of brain oedema

The investigations were carried out on 99 brains of which 83 exhibited macroscopic features of brain oedema. The tissue investigated came from four regions of the brain: the cortex of frontal and occipital regions, the white matter and the tissue of the pons varioli. The percentage of water in these regions was evaluated and the MIB test (methyl iodide in benzene) was used for a part of the analysed material (60 cases). Considerable differences in water percentage were found between the cortical layer and white matter and the tissue of the pons varioli.