Difference between revisions of "Autopsy"

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1,670 bytes added ,  02:18, 10 October 2010
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===General===
===General===
*This is usually where the money is in hospital autopsies.
*This is usually where the money is in hospital autopsies.
*Like surgeons say... ''you should never cut anything until you're sure what it is''.


===Neck===
===Before the first incision===
If there is suspicion of pneumothorax - one the the three following can be done:<ref name=Ref_HospAuto120-1>{{Ref HospAuto|120-1}}</ref>
#Create a "pleural window" (between ribs by removing soft tissue... without entering the pleural cavity).
#Open chest underwater and watch for air bubbles.
#Needle puncture with water filled syringe - where plunger has been removed.
 
*If there are neck abnormalities or suspicion of pressure on the neck, it is prudent to remove the cranial contents and thoracic contents ''before'' doing the neck dissection.<ref name=HospAuto118>{{Ref HospAuto|118}}</ref>
**If the above does ''not'' apply, i.e. there is no neck injury/suspected neck injury, the tongue & neck can be taken together with the thorax pluck or organ pluck.
 
===Incisions===
*Y-shaped incision (standard):
**Superior "points" of the Y ~ at the deltoid muscle.
**"Confuence of lines" in the Y ~ at the suprasternal notch.
*Neck dissection incisions:
**Deltoid to mastoid process.
 
====Sternum====
*Usually of no interest.
*May have cleft or foramen - as an anatomical variant.<ref name=pmid10803333>{{cite journal |author=Fokin AA |title=Cleft sternum and sternal foramen |journal=Chest Surg. Clin. N. Am. |volume=10 |issue=2 |pages=261–76 |year=2000 |month=May |pmid=10803333 |doi= |url=}}</ref>
 
===Retrieval of the (organ) "pluck"===
One piece (standard):
*Cut diaphrgam @ chest wall.
*Superior cut: through arch vessels.
*Inferior cut: through the common iliac vessels.
*Posterior:
**Thorax: cut paravertebral.
**Abdomen: blunt dissection for kidneys, then paravertebral.
 
Two pieces (thorax & abdomen):
*May be preferred in a "glued" (fibrosed/post-surgical) abdomen.
*Procedure - similar to ''one piece'' but:
**Cut aorta distal to the left subclavian + detach from thoracic pluck.
**Cut esophagus distal to pharynx + detach from thoracic pluck.
 
===Neck organ pluck===
#Trim tissue posterior to horns of the thyroid.
#Trim tissue posterior to horns of the thyroid.
#Cut between thyroid horns & hyoid.
#Cut between thyroid horns & hyoid.
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*May appear fractured if triticeous cartilage (or triticeal cartilage) is present;<ref name=pmid15075682>{{cite journal |author=Di Nunno N, Lombardo S, Costantinides F, Di Nunno C |title=Anomalies and alterations of the hyoid-larynx complex in forensic radiographic studies |journal=Am J Forensic Med Pathol |volume=25 |issue=1 |pages=14–9 |year=2004 |month=March |pmid=15075682 |doi= |url=}}</ref><ref>URL: [http://faculty.ksu.edu.sa/Prof.Hamam/curses/Jurnals%20Club/225-Triticeous%20cartilage.pdf http://faculty.ksu.edu.sa/Prof.Hamam/curses/Jurnals%20Club/225-Triticeous%20cartilage.pdf]. Accessed on: 10 September 2010.</ref> triticeous cartilage may be confused with a fragment of hyoid bone.
*May appear fractured if triticeous cartilage (or triticeal cartilage) is present;<ref name=pmid15075682>{{cite journal |author=Di Nunno N, Lombardo S, Costantinides F, Di Nunno C |title=Anomalies and alterations of the hyoid-larynx complex in forensic radiographic studies |journal=Am J Forensic Med Pathol |volume=25 |issue=1 |pages=14–9 |year=2004 |month=March |pmid=15075682 |doi= |url=}}</ref><ref>URL: [http://faculty.ksu.edu.sa/Prof.Hamam/curses/Jurnals%20Club/225-Triticeous%20cartilage.pdf http://faculty.ksu.edu.sa/Prof.Hamam/curses/Jurnals%20Club/225-Triticeous%20cartilage.pdf]. Accessed on: 10 September 2010.</ref> triticeous cartilage may be confused with a fragment of hyoid bone.
**''Triticeous'' is pronounced ''tri-tish´us''.<ref>URL: [http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/triticeous http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/triticeous]. Accessed on: 15 September 2010.</ref>
**''Triticeous'' is pronounced ''tri-tish´us''.<ref>URL: [http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/triticeous http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/triticeous]. Accessed on: 15 September 2010.</ref>
===Sternum===
*Usually of no interest.
*May have cleft or foramen - as an anatomical variant.<ref name=pmid10803333>{{cite journal |author=Fokin AA |title=Cleft sternum and sternal foramen |journal=Chest Surg. Clin. N. Am. |volume=10 |issue=2 |pages=261–76 |year=2000 |month=May |pmid=10803333 |doi= |url=}}</ref>


===Blood clots - ''pre- and post-mortem''===
===Blood clots - ''pre- and post-mortem''===
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