RECOMMENDED TECHNIQUE FOR BRAIN REMOVAL TO RETAIN ANATOMIC INTEGRITY OF THE PINEAL-GLAND IN ORDER TO DETERMINE ITS SIZE IN SUDDEN-INFANT-DEATH-SYNDROME
Dl. Sparks et al., RECOMMENDED TECHNIQUE FOR BRAIN REMOVAL TO RETAIN ANATOMIC INTEGRITY OF THE PINEAL-GLAND IN ORDER TO DETERMINE ITS SIZE IN SUDDEN-INFANT-DEATH-SYNDROME, Journal of forensic sciences, 42(1), 1997, pp. 100-102
A standardized removal and dissection procedure is presented for human
infant brain. A previously unreported cistern of the pineal gland mus
t be severed at autopsy in order to preserve the gland's anatomic inte
grity during brain removal. Utilization of these methods to investigat
e Sudden Infant Death Syndrome brain tissue should facilitate interdis
ciplinary studies and comparisons of inter agency findings. We use the
se dissection procedures to extend our findings on reduced pineal glan
d size as an anatomic marker assisting the forensic pathologist in mak
ing the diagnosis of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.