NCJ Number
224730
Journal
Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume: 53 Issue: 5 Dated: September 2008 Pages: 1166-1168
Date Published
September 2008
Length
3 pages
Annotation
This study examined the quality of fetal, perinatal, and infant (less than 12 months old) autopsy reports over a 5-year period (2000-2004) in the Mortuary Department of the Council of Forensic Medicine in Istanbul, Turkey.
Abstract
Scores for the quality of the autopsy reports were above the minimum acceptable score (MAS), based on the Royal College of Pathologists guidelines, in 44 percent of intrauterine death cases and 88 percent in neonatal and infantile death cases. The study found that in over 90 percent of the cases, body weight, crown-rump/heel length, main organ weights, and main organ histology parameters were evaluated. Head circumference, foot length, other organ weights, and histology of other organs were assessed in 43.4 to 59.6 percent of the cases; whereas, the macroscopic and microscopic examinations of the placenta were performed in only a few cases. The lack of placental examination was determined to be the major cause of low MASs. All cases included in this study were classified as medicolegal. Since the placenta could not be provided in the majority of cases, the placental examination could not be performed. Also, radiological, microbiological, and genetic analyses were not performed in most cases. Because of the forensic nature of autopsies, toxicological analyses were performed in almost all cases. Intrauterine deaths (158 cases) constituted 31 percent of the cases; neonatal deaths constituted 24 percent of the cases (123 cases); and infantile deaths composed 45 percent of the cases (229 cases). 2 tables and 16 references