RECOMMENDED TECHNIQUE FOR BRAIN REMOVAL TO RETAIN ANATOMIC INTEGRITY OF THE PINEAL-GLAND IN ORDER TO DETERMINE ITS SIZE IN SUDDEN-INFANT-DEATH-SYNDROME

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.