Letters
Facing death and grief
Radiology’s role in humanising mortality
BMJ 2025; 388 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.r127 (Published 23 January 2025) Cite this as: BMJ 2025;388:r127
- Susan Shelmerdine, consultant academic paediatric radiologist1 2 3,
- Natasha Davendralingam, consultant radiologist specialising in adult postmortem imaging4
- 1Department of Radiology, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK
- 2Department of Radiology, UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, London
- 3Department of Radiology, NIHR Great Ormond Street Hospital Biomedical Research Centre, London
- 4Department of Radiology, Tameside and Glossop NHS Foundation Trust, Ashton-under-Lyne, UK
- susan.shelmerdine{at}gosh.nhs.uk
Articles in The BMJ’s Christmas issue rightly call for death to be demedicalised, urging healthcare systems to focus on compassion and care for people who are dying.1 This conversation has centred on palliative care, but an important specialty is often overlooked—radiology.
Postmortem imaging, using computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging, is a non-invasive way to determine causes of death.2 Conventional autopsies are invasive and emotionally distressing for grieving …
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