Now in full colour, this new and revised edition of The Hospital Autopsy presents a clear and systematic approach to safe and effective modern autopsy practice for pathologists. It begins by discussing issues such as legislation governing autopsies, religious attitudes and ensuring safety, before covering the procedures of external examination, evisceration, dissection of internal organs and report writing. Six new chapters have been added and contemporary specialist techniques, such as near virtual autopsy, are covered in depth, with chapters devoted to complex issues including perinatal autopsies, maternal deaths and autopsies where the cause of death is unascertained.
The Hospital Autopsy is an indispensable resource for pathologists in training, as well as a concise reference for practicing pathologists and autopsy technicians.
The history of the autopsy. The future of the autopsy. The role of the autopsy in medical education. Autopsies and the law. Religious attitudes to death and post-mortem examinations. The safe and healthy autopsy. Autopsies of people with high-risk infections. The external examination. The pathology of wounds and injuries. The evisceration. Dissection of the internal organs. Examination of the nervous system. Fetal, perinatal and infant autopsies. The maternal autopsy. Toxicological and biochemical analyses. Microbiology of the autopsy. Investigating possible anaphylactic deaths. Perioperative and postoperative deaths. The radiological autopsy. The decomposed body and the unascertained autopsy. Reconstruction of the body. Autopsies and clinical audit. Reports, documentation and statements.
