One medical question please. Don't look at this if you are sensitive

I just found this very sad video about a female autopsy: it's very sad video in my opinion. Anyway, I have a very medical non fetish question please:

why does the coroner look for her vermiform appendix and does he get it out??? I think that in the standard autopsy procedure they usually don't take care of the appendix. There are many much more important things to work on, not the appendix. I think it would be different if she died because a medical malpractice (for instance a malpracticed appendectomy, or a misdiagnosed appendicitis, and so on): but it seems it's not in this case.

So, why??? Below there is the link to the video.

thank you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJox2A1C62o

Doesn't anyone know???

The reason they removed her appendix (according to the narration in the video) was that it serves as an identification, like a fingerprint. I've never heard of this before but perhaps one of our MDs or nurses can edify us.

Also, according the video, the doctor performing the autopsy didn't see any scars from the patient's breast augmentation on gross examination, so they were a little surprised when they opened the thoracic fascia and found her silicone implants. Her death was suspected to be due to an overdose of amyltriptolene (an anti-depressant medication), but she had obviously been under care, perhaps at an ER because she had an IV in place.

It is indeed a sad video, and not for the squeamish. Isn't it amazing that at the end of life we can be reduced (quickly) to a sad mass of flesh and bones? It is a very interesting video, particularly to those of us who are interested in anatomy and physiology. Thank you for posting.

Play On!

LadyDoc

Thank you so much for your reply, and also for your translation, really :_)!

Did you mean, an identification as the DNA?? So, why was not sufficient take her DNA as an identification?? This thing of her appendix taken out is so strange to me: it simply doesn't make sense to me.

On the contrary, it would make sense if they would have to study for some infection inside her blood, or if she was suspected of appendicopaty, or again, if some amyltriptolene was treatened inside the appendix.

Yes, very very very sad video, and in the same time very educative by a medical and physiology point of view. It's incredible the way the intestines and the cecum go protuding out when they are anymore pressed by the abdominal wall-muscles.

We can see that we become NOTHING when our soul go out from the body. It's so SAD.

The impression I got from the narration was the appendix was removed because each appendix is slightly different in some way, like a fingerprint. Again this was an impression, not a literal translation. I agree that if it was DNA that was wanted, they had many opportunities to obtain a sample, they didn't need the appendix for that.

I wouldn't think they would need the appendix for drug residuum, that would be more likely to be found in the liver, if I'm remembering my pharmacological toxicology correctly. Again, this is more a question for one of our MD's or nurses on the forum.

I remember a very similar end result of an equine autopsy I witnessed when I was in high school. We were invited as a group (class of 6) to go to the University of Mass. at Amherst. When we walked into the classroom, there was a live horse standing there, albeit quite ancient and in very poor condition. The horse was humanely euthanized and less than two hours later, the "remainders" fit neatly into a ten gallon bucket. To those of us who were horse lovers and students of equine studies, that was indeed a sad result, but fascinating nonetheless. One of my peers was traumatized by the event, but I think the rest of us were transfixed. I know I was, and it helped me to make the decision to go into veterinary medicine.

Play On!

LadyDoc

Yes Lady, I completely agree to you: if we want to find some residuum we have to looking for it inside the liver... not inside the appendix.

And yes, probably the appendix is like a fingerprint: it's a linfatic tissue and we can find inside it many leukocytes as an inflamation result. My theory is the following, although I'm absolutely not sure, of course: when they took her to the ER she felt very painful in her abdomen, probably because drug: so when she died, doctors knew that she died because drug, but the procedure wanted they had to exclude completely an appendicopaty or some other abdominal illness.

I can imagine that for people loving animals and horses, that was certainly a terrible and sad experience.

But in the same time we have to remember that if medicine and veterinary advanced so fast, it's because people study the human and the animal anatomy. Today police can catch a killer just because a good coroner performs...

... performs a good autopsy!!

And anyway yes, the anatomy is so interesting, so fascinating: we are made in a so complicated and perfect way!!!

Karma for you: and thank you for writing an easy english for me :-):-)!

I'd like to add a commentary to LadyDoc's comments

"It is indeed a sad video, and not for the squeamish. Isn't it amazing that at the end of life we can be reduced (quickly) to a sad mass of flesh and bones? It is a very interesting video, particularly to those of us who are interested in anatomy and physiology"

I teach at an institution that relies heavily on cadaver education for anatomy and advanced surgical students. At year's end we have a general convocation (mandatory) it is the last time they sit as a class - each goes off to rotations far and wide - meeting again only for the class picture (mandatory). After the convocation we hold a Memorial Service (Optional) for those who through death gave their bodies for our students. It lasts 15 minutes! Our medical class is 146, we had 26 surgical residents, we had hmmm 12 or so "special students". Totally attendance 6 students cared enough! What a pity!