INTRODUCTION
A 78-YEAR-OLD woman with hypertension presented with a gangrenous foot that had kept her from ambulating. During the surgical closure following above-the-knee amputation she developed precipitous hypotension followed by cardiopulmonary arrest and death.
The pathology resident on call to perform autopsies received an authorization to perform an autopsy that had been completed by the patient's physician and the legal next of kin. In the area of the form for notation of restrictions (such as "autopsy to be limited to chest and abdomen only") were the words "please do not disfigure the face." Because the face is almost never disfigured during an autopsy (unless dissection is required in a forensic autopsy for medicolegal purposes or special needs have arisen during a hospital-based autopsy and permission has been granted by the legal custodian of the body), the wording caused the resident to wonder whether the physician understood and conveyed to the next . . . [Full Text of this Article]
AUTOPSY FINDINGS
Part 1
Part 2. OTHER SIGNIFICANT CONDITIONS:
COMMENT
How Does One Ask for Permission to Perform an Autopsy?
How Long Does It Take to Perform an Autopsy?
What Is a Complete Autopsy?
What Is a Limited Autopsy?
What Is Done With the Organs?
What Parts of the Body Are Incised?
Are Any Other Incisions Made?
Are the Eyes Removed?
Is the Spinal Cord Routinely Removed?
How Are the Organs Removed?
What If There Is a Rush to Have Funeral Services?
Are Autopsies Performed 24 Hours a Day, 7 Days a Week?
Where Is the Autopsy Performed?
How Long Are the Organs, Tissues, and Other Items Retained?
What If the Family Members Want Some or All of the Specimens?
Are Implanted Devices Removed During an Autopsy?
How Are Specimens Used for Research?
When Is Embalming Performed?
Is There a Cost to the Family?
CONCLUSIONS
