Content
What is Autopsy?
Why have an Autopsy done
Types of Autopsies
Legally Defined manners of Death
Equipment
Procedure
What is Autopsy?
Autopsy; also called necropsy, postmortem or postmortem
examination, is the dissection and examination of a dead body, its
organs and structures.
The term “autopsy” means “to see for oneself” and has
been in use in reference to determining cause of death
by examining a body since the 17th century.
Ancient Egyptians were one of the first civilizations to
practice the removal and examination of the internal
organs of humans in the religious practice of
mummification.
Why have an Autopsy done
Saving Lives: Autopsies can enhance our understanding of diseases
and how we die, and contribute critical medical knowledge. Forensic
pathologists have identified public health emergencies, such as the
anthrax terrorist attacks or other lethal infection diseases, as well as
public health hazards, such defective cribs that kill babies.
Discovering Hereditary Illness: Autopsies can help family members
learn whether a relative died from an undiagnosed or misdiagnosed
illness or disease that may be hereditary. Dr. Gregory J. Davis at the
University of Kentucky College of Medicine
says that 40 percent of autopsies performed in the U.S. reveal disease
states previously unknown to physicians, in large part because the auto
psy employs techniques that cannot be used on the living.
Providing Legal Evidence: Most of us think of autopsies in relation to
homicide cases, but there are other ways in which autopsies can provide
evidence for legal action. For example, if an autopsy determines a death to
be the result of a work or environmental hazard, it may lead to
compensation for family. If an autopsy reveals evidence of medical
malpractice, it may be the grounds for a lawsuit.
Easing the Stress of the Unknown: Autopsies can also be an important
way for families and loved ones to seek reassurance or peace of mind after
death.
Types of Autopsies
There are two main types:
Forensic: Examiner spends as much time on the external
surface as they do on the internal surface because that’s
where the evidence is. This is usually as a part of an overall
police investigation.
Clinical: Usually preformed in hospitals by pathologists or the
attending physician to determine the cause of death for
research and study purposes.
Legally Defined manners of
Death
Natural- Heart attack, complications from an infection, blood
clot, pneumonia
Accidental- Falling, Fire, Car wreck, extreme heat or cold
Homicide- person killing another person
Suicide- intentionally causing your own death
Undetermined- unable to conclude how a person died
Getting Started
The body is received in the morgue and is refrigerated/stored
until examination time. Autopsies are best if performed within 24
hours of death before organs deteriorate and before embalming
which can interfere with toxicology and blood cultures.
Gather all information as possible about the deceased and
events that led to the death. This may include:
Medical Records
Consultation with doctor
Interviewing family members
Investigating the area where the person died
Studying circumstances surrounding the death
Consultation with police
Body is weighed, measured and X-rayed
Photographs are taken of the body (front, back & naked)
Fingerprints are taken (if any missing, parts are noted)
Scrape underneath fingernails for evidence
Examination of clothes
Age, sex and race are noted
Eye color, scars, moles, tattoos are noted
Examination of the eyes (blood spots & etc.)
Any body secretions and gun powder residue/ bullet holes
Body fluids are drawn from the body for testing (blood, urine, spinal
fluid, vitreous humour from the eye
Body is cleaned and ready to be put on table
Equipment
Body Block
Cadaver Table
Waist high and is plumbed for running water and has
several faucets for washing away blood that is released Placed under the back of the
during the procedure. Raised edges keep blood and body causing arms and neck to
fluids from running into the floor. fall back while pushing the
chest upward to make it easier
to cut open.
Instruments
Procedure
Y-Incision: The Y-Incision is the procedure used by the
pathologist or examiner to open up the breastplate of the
deceased and gain access to the body's major organs;
heart, lungs, liver, stomach, spleen etc.
All the organs are removed and weighed ( usually removed
in one unit but sometimes in sequence depending on the
trauma to the body).
Slices of each organ are taken and tested
Depending on type of death, stomach contents are removed,
examined and recorded
If gun shot was involved, then any bullets would be removed
and documented and saved for evidence
After the main organs are examined the examiner proceeds to the
brain; (The body block is then moved to underneath the head)
Deep incision begins behind one ear, travels over the top of the head and
behind the opposite ear.
The scalp is pulled away from the skull in two flaps; front going over the face
and the rear going over the back of the neck so the skull is fully exposed.
Electric saw known as the “ Stryker saw” is used to cut and remove a wedge
shape portion of the skull which exposes the brain.
Brain is removed, weighed
and examined.
Any findings noted
Once everything has been examined, all the internal organs
are returned to the body cavities or
incinerated.
The body is sewn back together
A report will be done based on notes and findings while
performing the autopsy
Send tissue samples, blood, urine & etc. to lab for testing
Refrigerate body to preserve it until its ready to be moved
elsewhere
Once all test results are back, a final report will be
provided giving the findings of the autopsy and the
cause of death.
Example Autopsy Report
Interesting Facts
In the 17th century, lacking chemical tests (and knowledge of
disease transmission mechanisms), Italian physicians and
autopsist Antonio Valsalva sometimes tasted the fluids he
encountered in cadavers in an effort to better characterize
them.
In 1828 Irish immigrants William Burke and William Hare
partnered to murder 16 people in Scotland for cadaver
bounties paid for by a doctor who didn’t ask questions. Hare
testified against Burke who was hung in 1829. Burkes
cadaver was publicly dissected and his skeleton remains on
display at the University of Edinburg. Wallets made from his
skin which was stolen during the autopsy were offered for
sale on the streets.
Accurately weighing small organs like the thyroid and
adrenals requires a triple-beam balance; all other organs are
plopped down on a ordinary grocer’s scale.
At the end of an autopsy, the organs are either incinerated or
put in a bag and placed back in the body before its sewn
shut.
In 1912, Boston physician Richard Cabot analyzed
autopsies and claimed that some diseases were being
misdiagnosed at an alarming rate of 80%. A 2005 study in
Histopathology suggests that doctors still misdiagnose fatal
diseases about a third of the time.
