Postmortem Aortic Dissection: An Artifact of the Embalming Process |
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| Authors: | Guenevere Rae MS Mujtaba Husain MD Robin McGoey MD William Swartz PhD |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, LA;2. Department of Medical Education, University of Central Florida College of Medicine, Orlando, FL;3. Department of Pathology, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, LA |
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| Abstract: | Aortic dissection (AD) is a serious condition that affects 3/100,000 individuals a year. Recently, a case report was published describing an embalmed patient with an aortic dissection. The purpose of this study was to examine the frequency of AD among 80 embalmed cadavers and confirm the AD with histopathologic evaluation. In seven cases of grossly identified AD, six were determined to be due to the embalming procedure and only one case of true antemortem AD was confirmed. These results suggest that aortic morphology can be altered by administration of the embalming fluid and that alterations can mimic AD, not only on gross inspection but also on postmortem imaging. Awareness of this embalming artifact may prevent misdiagnosis of an aortic dissection in an embalmed patient, a point particularly useful for autopsy pathology that may include postmortem examination of an embalmed patient. |
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| Keywords: | forensic science forensic pathology aortic dissection embalming artifact postmortem imaging cadaver pathology autopsy pathology |
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