RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 The perinatal postmortem examination
JF Journal of Clinical Pathology
JO J Clin Pathol
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd and Association of Clinical Pathologists
SP 159
OP 169
DO 10.1136/jcp.24.2.159
VO 24
IS 2
A1 F. A. Langley
YR 1971
UL http://jcp.bmj.com/content/24/2/159.abstract
AB In order to determine the cause of a perinatal death it is important to correlate the postmortem findings with the clinical histories of both mother and infant. The postmortem examination of a newborn infant differs from that of an adult in a number of ways, especially in the method of removal and dissection of the brain, the examination of the cervical spine, the dissection of the cardiovascular system for congenital abnormalities, and the examination of the placenta. A systematic technique for performing a perinatal necropsy is described. Stress is laid on measurement of the size of the infant and of the individual organs and comparison of these with known standards, allowance being made for the maturity of the infant.