Forensic Pathology: Principles and Practice

Forensic Pathology is a comprehensive reference that uses a case-oriented format to address, explain and guide the reader through the varied topics encountered by forensic pathologists. Developed in response to a severe void in the literature, the book addresses topics ranging from medicolegal investigation of death to death scene investigation, forensic autopsy, and artifacts of resuscitation as well as complications of medical therapy, forensic osteology, forensic odontology, forensic photography, and death certification. The book includes various types of cases, including sudden natural death, asphyxia, motor vehicle collisions, death in custody, child abuse and elder abuse, acute psychiatric and emotional deaths, and pregnancy. It contains sample descriptions of pathological lesions which serve to aid pathologists in reporting their findings to law enforcement agencies, attorneys, and others involved in investigations of sudden death. The concepts outlined in the text are beautifully illustrated by large, colorful photographs. There are also "Do and Don’t" sections at the end of each chapter that provide guidance for handling the types of cases examined. This work will benefit not only experienced forensic pathologists, but also hospital pathologists who occasionally performs medicolegal autopsies; doctors in training; medical examiners; law enforcement personnel; crime scene investigators; attorneys; and fellows and students of the medical sciences.

Table of Contents:
a. Foreword b. Preface 1. Medicolegal investigation of death 2. Death Scene Investigation 3. The Forensic Autopsy 4. Sudden Natural Death 5. Blunt force injury 6. Sharp Force Injuries 7. Firearm Injuries 8. Asphyxia 9. Drowning 10. Environmental Injury 11. Motor Vehicle Collisions 12. Aviation 13. Death in Custody 14. Artifacts of Resuscitation and Complications of Medical Therapy 15. Apparent Natural Death in Infants 16. Sudden Natural Death in Childhood 17. Child abuse 18. Elder Abuse 19. Forensic Neuropathology 20. Sexual Battery Investigation 21. Toxicology 22. Acute Psychiatric and Emotional Deaths 23. Pregnancy 24. Postmortem Changes 25. Identification 26. Forensic Osteology 27. Forensic Odontology 28. Forensic Photography 29. Select Autopsy Topics 30. Death Certification 31. The Pathologist as Expert Witness 32. Index

About the Author :
David Dolinak is Chief Medical Examiner for Austin, TX. He has published and lectured extensively in the neurosciences and forensic pathology. In conjunction with Evan Matshes he has produced the very well received text “Medicolegal Neuropathology: A Color Atlas.” Evan Matshes is the Assistant Chief Medical Examiner for the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. He has published and lectured extensively in human anatomy and osteology, the neurosciences, and forensic pathology. In addition to his aforementioned textbook publishing, he was also a co-author on “An Atlas of Human Osteology”, released in 2000 in Canada.

Review :
"Forensic Pathology: Principles & Practice is the first text of Forensic Pathology that provides in-depth discussion, fairly balances controversial topics, is lavishly illustrated, and provides practical guidelines." - Charles V. Wetli, M.D., Chief Medical Examiner & Director of Forensic Sciences, Suffolk County, NY "The book under review is what one would always like to have on one's desk. It is informative, factual, well-referenced, exhaustive and extremely well illustrated. It immediately grasps one's attention not only because it gives practical tips throughout, but also because of its rich and profuse illustrations. How richly is the book illustrated can be gauged by the fact that there are a total of more than 1800 photographs (all in full color) scattered over 671 pages of text - about 3 photographs per page! There are some other interesting features in this book too, which set it apart from other run-of-the-mill kind of texts. One which I especially liked - and am sure, most others will like too - is a feature called "take home message". You can read the text and cases, and then the editors will tend to drive home the point through this feature. This feature should be most useful for younger pathologists and those in training for whom this book is an absolute must. The book is full of such practical tips throughout. To my mind the two most valuable features of this book are its rich and profuse illustrations and its practical tips. Most current books are deficient in these. This book can be heartily recommended not only to trainees and younger pathologists, who obviously would benefit greatly from this book, but also to senior pathologists if only to re-alert them to certain common pitfalls. Certainly everyone would get to see a number of unique cases irrespective of the level of his experience. Besides pathologists at whom this book is mainly aimed, it should also prove useful for police officers, coroners, magistrates and all other law enforcement officers. Illustrative photographs should prove useful to this section. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and this book is going to my companion for the rest of my life." - Internet Journal of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology "The text is richly supported by color photographs that are nothing short of spectacular...This text will serve as a reference for the practicing forensic pathologist. Additionally, those embarking upon preparation for the Board examination in forensic pathology will find this text very useful." - Journal of Forensic Science "This book is, undoubtedly, the most extensively illustrated textbook of forensic pathology so far. When reading Forensic Pathology, one recognizes very quickly that this book is created by highly experienced forensic pathologists. The book is well written and the references are up to date." - Michael Tsokos, MD, Institute of Legal Medicine, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany