Spitz And Fisher's Medicolegal Investigation Of Death: Guidelines For The Application Of Pathology To Crime Investigation

Handbook of Forensic Pathology, Second Edition, provides an up-to-date, concise manual illustrating all core aspects of modern forensic pathology. This new edition retains the outline format of the original, which allows for quick access and rapid assimilation. Written in no nonsense, easily understandable language, this precise and thorough, yet compact resource contains extensively detailed entries from two of the nation's foremost authorities on gunshot wounds and forensic pathology. With numerous instructional charts and diagrams and new full-color photographs, it organizes a wealth of instructional and immediately applicable information. Introducing medicolegal casework and documentation, this resource explains protocols for the collection and recovery of evidence and DNA analysis, and lists factors used to determine time of death and identify remains. It covers the natural causes of death in children and adults as well as a myriad of non-natural causes including homicide, suicide, accidental, and undetermined. New in the Second Edition-· Introduces an entirely new chapter on nursing home death· Examines added information on gunshot residue· Presents new research on Tasers, pepper spray, and Excited Delirium Syndrome· Includes new full color photographs With meticulous detail and instant access to extensive information, Handbook of Forensic Pathology, Second Edition, is an indispensable tool for forensic pathologists, law enforcement, legal personnel, as well as pathologists in training.

This laboratory guidebook provides step-by-step procedures that will aid in the dissection and collection of major organs and tissues of the most common species of small animals used in biomedical research. Through extensive use of photographs and illustrations, the dissector is guided through a complete necropsy of each species for the purpose of collecting the organs and tissues routinely examined by pathologists. The techniques described will enable the technician to perform necropsies on almost any mammal in a precise and logical sequence, and to properly collect tissue in order to avoid diagnostic errors. Morphological differences among the various species are discussed.

On Thursday, July 13, 1995, Chicagoans awoke to a blistering day in which the temperature would reach 106 degrees. The heat index, which measures how the temperature actually feels on the body, would hit 126 degrees by the time the day was over. Meteorologists had been warning residents about a two-day heat wave, but these temperatures did not end that soon. When the heat wave broke a week later, city streets had buckled; the records for electrical use were shattered; and power grids had failed, leaving residents without electricity for up to two days. And by July 20, over seven hundred people had perished-more than twice the number that died in the Chicago Fire of 1871, twenty times the number of those struck by Hurricane Andrew in 1992—in the great Chicago heat wave, one of the deadliest in American history.

Heat waves in the United States kill more people during a typical year than all other natural disasters combined. Until now, no one could explain either the overwhelming number or the heartbreaking manner of the deaths resulting from the 1995 Chicago heat wave. Meteorologists and medical scientists have been unable to account for the scale of the trauma, and political officials have puzzled over the sources of the city's vulnerability. In Heat Wave, Eric Klinenberg takes us inside the anatomy of the metropolis to conduct what he calls a "social autopsy," examining the social, political, and institutional organs of the city that made this urban disaster so much worse than it ought to have been.

Starting with the question of why so many people died at home alone, Klinenberg investigates why some neighborhoods experienced greater mortality than others, how the city government responded to the crisis, and how journalists, scientists, and public officials reported on and explained these events. Through a combination of years of fieldwork, extensive interviews, and archival research, Klinenberg uncovers how a number of surprising and unsettling forms of social breakdown—including the literal and social isolation of seniors, the institutional abandonment of poor neighborhoods, and the retrenchment of public assistance programs—contributed to the high fatality rates. The human catastrophe, he argues, cannot simply be blamed on the failures of any particular individuals or organizations. For when hundreds of people die behind locked doors and sealed windows, out of contact with friends, family, community groups, and public agencies, everyone is implicated in their demise.

As Klinenberg demonstrates in this incisive and gripping account of the contemporary urban condition, the widening cracks in the social foundations of American cities that the 1995 Chicago heat wave made visible have by no means subsided as the temperatures returned to normal. The forces that affected Chicago so disastrously remain in play in America's cities, and we ignore them at our peril.

In reviewing the book, I must state I am biased. Autopsy pathology is being challenged with decreasing numbers of cases for a variety of reasons. This is unfortunate. Autopsy pathology remains an excellent opportunity for learning and clinicopathological correlation. There is simply not enough of this "classical" training in Medicine. The autopsy remains relevant to medical practice. The more one learns about disease, the better one will be able to treat the living.

The book details numerous cases, autopsy findings and discusses the clinical presentation, disease complications and manifestations. It succeeds admirably in this task. One can argue that the cases are a bit dated and some perhaps not reflective of recent medical care (not much in coronary interventions, which are now common place), but the authors do point this out in most cases. I do not feel this distracts from the goal of the book - to encourage active thought of disease pathology and its clinical consequences.

The book obviously focuses upon cardiovascular disease, but I particularly found the discussions of how generalized disorders, including diabetes and endocrine diseases such as thyroid disease, affect the body. In autopsy pathology, one must consider the whole patient and the disease interactions in multiple systems. This is of course also what one must do with the living we are assessing and treating. Dr. Factor is an internationally recognized expert in myocardial disease and thus these sections are particularly strong.

The case mix is generally well chosen. One can point out omissions and criticize inclusion of esoteric disease, but in general the book is well balanced, reflective of most important disease categories, and not meant to be all-inclusive.

Some of the illustrations are dark and a bit hard to interpret. I also personally would have like to see more illustrations, but this must be balanced with the cost of the book.

Who should read this book? The authors state "it is intended for use by medical students in problem-based curricula, but is presented with sufficient sophistication to be useful to residents in pathology and internal medicine, and to pathologists and cardiologists." I agree with this. I plan to use it with medical students and residents doing electives in Cardiovascular and Anatomical Pathology. It would be excellent to give to residents to study during their autopsy rotations. I think it could be valuable for trainees in pathology, cardiac surgery, and cardiology. For my own continuing medical education, I found it interesting and informative, and I plan to revisit my favorite parts.

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Color Atlas of the Autopsy
Scott A. Wagner
Manufacturer: CRC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0849315204

Standing over the autopsy table gives you an unparalleled perspective on every element of the autopsy procedure. Remarkable details of disease and injury appear right before your eyes, presenting a complete picture that leads you in the direction of death. Now, those striking images have been taken from the table to the text in the only full-color guide to all aspects of the autopsy. Forensic pathology is a visual discipline, making images essential to properly explaining the critical process. Featuring over 500 full-color photographs, Color Atlas of the Autopsy provides unadulterated access to every probe of the autopsy procedure. As the only atlas to focus on autopsy protocol, the book introduces the process and principles of the procedure to uninitiated professionals who interact with the pathologist before, during, and after the autopsy. This incomparable guide presents an astonishing visual experience that goes beyond a demonstration to demystify the autopsy.