ICS Flashcards
what are the 2 types of autopsies?
- hospital
- medico-legal (coronial and forensic)
what are the 2 types of medico-legal autopsies?
- coronial (lawful death)
- forensic (non-lawful death)
which type of autopsy is most common?
medico-legal: coronial
what does a hospital autopsy require?
MCCD (medical certificate of cause of death?)
what are hospital autopsies used for?
- teaching
- research
- governance
when are coronial autopsies conducted?
when death is lawful
when are forensic autopsies conducted?
when there’s a non lawful death
what are the 4 questions of the coroner?
- who was the deceased?
- when did they die?
- where did they die?
- how did they come about their death?
what does an autopsic pathologist have the same role as?
the coroner
what are 3 types of deaths referred to a coroner?
- presumed natural
- presumed iatrogenic
- presumed unnatural
what does iatrogenic mean?
caused by medical exam/treatment
what is the no. of days where if not seen by a doctor, a presumed natural death is referred to a coroner?
14
what is the most common referral reason for autopsy?
presumed natural death - not seen doc in last 14d
what are examples of iatrogenic deaths? (4)
- peri/post-op deaths
- anaesthetic deaths
- illegal abortion
- complications of therapy (even if recognised)
name some examples of presumed unnatural deaths (4)
- industrial deaths eg asbestos
- suicide
- unlawful killing
- custody deaths
do docs have a statutory duty to refer deaths to coroners?
no
who has a statutory duty to refer deaths?
registrar of BDM (births, deaths n marriages)
who else can make referrals for autopsy?
relatives, police etc
who performs coronial autopsies?
forensic pathologists
who performs majority of autopsies (hospital)????
histopathologists
what are the 5 steps to an autopsy?
- history/scene
- external examination (formal identifiers etc)
- evisceration (removal of external organs)
- internal examination
- reconstruction
what happened in oct 2016 relating to autopsies?
digital - full body CT scan reported by consultant radiologist
define coronial autopsy
systematic scientific exam that helps coroner determine who the deceased was, when and where did they die and how they came about their death?
define acute inflammation
the initial and often transient series of tissue reactions to injury























