postmortem examination

examination

[eg-zam″ĭ-na´shun] inspection or investigation, especially as a means of diagnosing disease.breast examination in the nursing interventions classification, a intervention" >nursing intervention defined as inspection and palpation of the breasts and related areas.mental status examination a standardized procedure to gather data to determine etiology, diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment for patients with mental disorders.pelvic examination physical assessment of the internal pelvic organs. It includes inspection with a speculum, a papanicolaou smear, bimanual palpation, and a rectovaginal examination.physical examination examination of the bodily state of a patient by ordinary physical means, as inspection, palpation, percussion, and auscultation.postmortem examination autopsy.

au·top·sy

(aw'top-sē), Avoid the mispronunciation autop'sy.1. An examination of the organs of a dead body to determine the cause of death or to study the pathologic changes present. Synonym(s): necropsy2. In the terminology of the ancient Greek school of empirics, the intentional reproduction of an effect, event, or circumstance that occurred in the course of a disease, and observation of its influence in ameliorating or aggravating the patient's symptoms. Synonym(s): postmortem examination [G. autopsia, seeing with one's own eyes]

postmortem examination

n. See autopsy.

autopsy

A postmortem examination of a body, which helps determine cause of death and identify any diseases that had not been detected while the patient was alive, or which confirms the presence of conditions diagnosed before the patient died.
Autopsy types
• Biopsy only—A minimalist postmortem examination in which the prosector examines the organs, but only samples small fragments (biopsies) for histologic examination.
• Chest only—An autopsy in which only the lungs and heart are examined; findings in a chest only autopsy are used to ID an occluding thrombus in the coronary arteries, massive patientE, or evaluate a person for compensation under the Black Lung Compensation act of 1969.
• Complete—An autopsy in which the thoracic, abdominal and cranial cavities are examined.
• Head only—An autopsy in which the pathology of interest is presumed to reside entirely in the cranial cavity.
• No head—An autopsy examining the chest and abdominal cavity without cranial cavity.
Infections (potentially fatal) that may pass to prosectors
Blastomycosis, coccidioidomycosis, diphtheria, erysipeloid, HBV (30% of seroconversion with infected blood exposure), HCV (up to 10% risk), HIV (0.3% risk), lymphocytic choriomeningitis, rabies, streptococci, TB (exposures as brief as 10 minutes have resulted in transmission; 10% of Finnish pathologists in active PM practice have occupational TB; autopsy-transmitted outbreaks of TB have occurred in NY, LA, Chicago and Arkansas), tularaemia, viral haemorrhagic fevers (Marburg, Ebola, Lassa), yellow fever. Two cases of possible transmission of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease to histology technicians (not autopsy prosectors) have been reported.

postmortem examination

See AUTOPSY.

postmortem examination

postmortem examination

postmortem examination

postmortem examination

postmortem examination

examination

au·top·sy

postmortem examination

autopsy

postmortem examination

postmortem examination

Synonyms for postmortem examination

noun an examination and dissection of a dead body to determine cause of death or the changes produced by disease

Synonyms

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