Medical Views

Medicine and law overlap in a death investigation calling for an autopsy to determine the manner and cause of death. Listen to two chief medical examiners talk about their work and careers. Explore the medico-legal autopsy procedures, and find out what virtual autopsy is all about!

Medical examiners

Pathologists—medical doctors who specialize in anatomical or functional abnormalities of a human body—with a special forensic training work as medical examiners and conduct medico-legal autopsies. Meet Drs. Marcela Fierro and David Fowler, who speak about their career and experiences as the chief medical examiners of Virginia and Maryland, respectively.

Autopsy

Explore the purposes of a medico-legal autopsy and learn about select autopsy pathologies from the two chief medical examiners' perspectives.

Autopsy overview

Why and how is an autopsy performed? Find out from the experts the general autopsy procedure and its purpose.

General autopsy procedure

View the video
Read the transcript

Purpose & criteria for a medico-legal autopsy

View the video
Read the transcript

Petechial hemorrhage

Take a close look at these eyes—look at your own to help you compare and note differences. Do you see the tiny red dots on the eye's upper white part and the inside of the eyelid? This condition is called petechial (tiny dots) hemorrhage (bleeding). What does this tell a medical examiner? When, during an autopsy, does a medical examiner find such a condition?

Enlarge

American Registry of Pathology

Petechial hemorrhage

View the video
Read the transcript

Autopsy: external examination

View the video
Read the transcript

Polycystic kidney

Here are the cross sections of a healthy kidney and one with adult polycystic kidney disease. Take a closer look at each and note their differences. What is polycystic kidney disease and how does it happen? How and when does a medical examiner examine kidneys during an autopsy?

Enlarge

Edward Klatt, M.D.

Normal kidney cross section

Enlarge

American Registry of Pathology

Polycystic kidney disease

Adult polycystic kidney disease

View the video
Read the transcript

Autopsy: internal in situ examination

View the video
Read the transcript

Perforated heart

This heart has a perforated wound caused by a bullet. What does such a wound tell a medical examiner? How and when does she or he examine the heart?

Enlarge

D. King, M.D.

Perforated heart

Gunshot wound in the heart

View the video
Read the transcript

Autopsy: organ examination

View the video
Read the transcript

Cerebral meningitis

This brain shows an abnormal condition—yellow-tan clouding of the meninges, the three layers of membranes covering the brain—caused by a viral or bacterial infection. What does a medical examiner do with this finding? How does the infection affect people conducting the autopsy?

Enlarge

Colonel Elizabeth J. Rushing, M.D.

Brain with acute meningitis

Fatal cerebral meningitis

View the video
Read the transcript

Autopsy: brain examination & occupational hazard

View the video
Read the transcript

Virtopsy

Find out how high-tech imaging technologies are applied to a medico-legal autopsy in searching for the cause and manner of death.

What is virtopsy and what are its benefits?

View the video
Read the transcript

A research case

Drs. Richard Dirnhofer and Michael J. Thali and their team of specialists at the University of Bern's Institute of Forensic Medicine in Switzerland use multi-slice computed tomography (MSCT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in comparison with a forensic autopsy to determine how well MSCT and MRI can document and analyze gunshot wounds. Compare the photographic, MRI, and CT images from a case and explore how imaging technology applications may assist and supplement traditional autopsy.