Post Mortem (Autopsy) Flashcards
(25 cards)
Critical element of epidemiology
Postmortem Exam (Autopsy)
Vital role in the basic study of disease processes, therapeutic response and complications, research, education, genetic counseling, and in audit of medical practice
Postmortem Exam (Autopsy)
Remains as the gold standard in evaluating new treatments and diagnostic modalities and in documenting changingg patterns of disease
Postmortem Exam (Autopsy)
Types of Postmortem
- At the request of the coroner
- Consented, hospital, or academic post mortems
What to do before postmortem exam
- Check consent forms
- Check the identity of the body
- Read all available notes and information
- Determine the questions being asked
- Identify any special techniques required
- Assess risk
General external Inspection
- Height and weight
- External appearance
Ethnicity
Gender
Build
State Of Cleanliness
Skin Color
Presence Of
Distinguishing
Features (such as Scars, Tattoos, Malformations/deformities)
Includes preliminary skin incision and thoracic and abdominal wwall dissections to expose the internal organs
Evisceration
Different Postmortem exam methods
- En Masse Dissection
- The Virchow Method
- En Bloc Removal
- In Situ Dissection
Described by Letulle. Removing most it not all of the internal organs at one time
En Masse Dissection/Letulle
May be one of the more rapid techniques for removing the organs from the body
En Masse Dissection/Letulle
Perinatal autopsies
En Masse Dissection/Letulle
ADVANTAGE: leaving all organ and system attachments
intact
En Masse Dissection/Letulle
DISADVANTAGE: large external incisions, time consuming
En Masse Dissection/Letulle
Removal of individual organs one by one with subsequent
dissection of that isolated organ
Virchow method
Inividual organ pathology
Virchow method
ADVANTAGE: Extremely quick and effective method if the pathological interest is in a single organ
Virchow method
DISADVANTAGE: relationships between organs will often be difficult to interpret or are completely destroyed
Virchow method
Developed by Ghon, combines Virchow and Letulle. Most widely used in the United Kingdom
En Bloc Removal/Ghon
Quick but preserves most of the important inter-organ
relationships
En Bloc Removal/Ghon
By Rokitansky, rarely performed.
In Situ Dissection/Rokitansky
Dissecting the organs in situ with little actual evisceration being performed prior to dissection
In Situ Dissection/Rokitansky
Method of choice for post mortems on patients with highly transmissible diseases
In Situ Dissection/Rokitansky
Most limited risk or threat to anyone except the prosector
In Situ Dissection/Rokitansky
In evisceration, _______ is removed in order to gain access to the thoracic cavity
Sternum
