Humana The Operated Heart at Autopsy

This guide offers pathologists the latest in how to deal, at the time of autopsy, with the anatomic complexity of a heart that has undergone previous surgery, irrespective of how recent or remote that surgery occurred. It includes over 90 color illustrations. Review From the reviews: "This monograph, written by Stuart L. Houser, MD, is a valuable addition to the literature on cardiac pathology. … he describes the in detail the clinical history and pathologic findings in the heart of patients who had an autopsy following cardiac surgery in a series of 20 cases. … This book should be of great interest not only to any pathologist or trainee in pathology that has need for guidance in this specialized area but also to internists and cardiologists … ." (Harry L. Messmore and William H. Wehrmacher, Comprehensive Therapy, December, 2009) "The Operated Heart at Autopsy aims to provide assistance to pathologists in the performance of autopsies of patients who have undergone surgical treatment of the heart. … this book largely delivers on its stated goal. Interns, experts, and all tiers of pathologists in between who are routinely confronted with autopsy for a patient with an operated heart could conceivably benefit from perusing The Operated Heart at Autopsy." (Syed A. Hoda and Kunal Karia, Journal of the American Medical Association, Vol. 302 (22), 2009) “The author takes the reader through common and uncommon cardiac surgery procedures as well as inborn and acquired infant and adolescent cardiac diseases, pronouncing the significance and role of heart operations during autopsy in cases of suspected heart-related deaths and describing autopsy techniques step by step. … The references are plentiful, up-to-date and allow further gathering of information. … it should be included in the library of any pathology department and autopsy pathologist in charge of suspected fatalities related to cardiac surgery.” (Claas T. Buschmann, Forensic Science, Medicine, and Pathology, Vol. 6, 2010) From the Back Cover The Operated Heart at Autopsy addresses the need of pathologists in practice and, especially, in training to achieve a new level of competence in dealing, at the time of autopsy, with the anatomic complexity of a heart that has undergone previous surgical treatment, whether that treatment occurred in the recent or remote past. Ready identification of post-operative morphologic changes in the heart will greatly increase the comfort level of the pathologist as he takes on the challenge of the operated heart. By drawing on lessons learned as a cardiac surgeon, the author offers reasonable guidelines to the pathologist facing this challenging task. Such guidelines include a methodical approach to assess multiple operative procedures on the heart. Previous surgery may include construction of coronary artery bypass grafts (CABG), replacement or repair of one or more heart valves, repair of one or more congenital heart anomalies, or some other procedure. Questions will arise at such an autopsy. When a past medical history is lacking, what is the best way to determine exactly what operation was done? Was the cause of death heart-related? What was the impact of the heart surgery on the cause of death? What is the importance of technical issues of the heart surgery in a given autopsy? What steps should be taken in the actual dissection of the heart…and in what order? What are the anatomic landmarks, i.e., "footprints" of a surgeon, to look for when examining the operated heart? Importantly, as the pathologist in charge of an autopsy of an individual who died during or following open-heart surgery, what do I, the pathologist, tell the cardiac surgeon who needs to know what happened? The Operated Heart at Autopsy will definitely guide the pathologist, whether a resident in training or a professional in academic or private practice, in addressing these and other related questions.