Last week I had one final day of autopsies. In the morning we saw an obese, diabetic, and quite hirsute black woman and the near-completely decomposed remains of a man. It was hard to ignore the loads of hair on the woman's butt and her stubbled chin - just another reminder of human variability! The brain was extracted, and I sidled up next to the intern to see what she would find. The arteries were extremely hardened and congested. After her findings were recorded I was allowed to poke around with a scalpel. I was happy to have the chance to get the feel of everything. Sure, you can read that the brain weighs 1000-1700 grams, but holding in your hands is much better!
Next we looked at the heart, which presented severe atherosclerosis, the calcified fatty accumulation in the coronary arteries. There was also a spot that had ruptured. In the area around the heart, large amounts of "agonie" was found (that's to say gelatinous globs of coagulated blood). The diagnosis was clear - she suffered from intense hypertension and her heart literally burst as a result of extremely high blood pressure.
Next was a body that was exhumed from somewhere. Unfortunately I didn't quite understand the parsimonious backstory I was told. All I can say is that it was at least 6 months old and didn't stink! *EDIT: The body was more than 3 years old.* The head and upper torso were completely desiccated, but interestingly the butt and legs had maintained their shape more or less. This is because under the right environmental conditions high concentrations of fat can turn into a waxy, soapy substance. Essentially the outside of the bottom half of the body had turned into soap, preserving everything within.
A clean-cut doctor I had not met before was in charge of the operation. He paid little heed to the lackeys that surrounded him, giving orders left and right. He suddenly put me in charge of labelling all of the little plastic containers that we put the organs in, which I was more than happy to do! Of course I was the least qualified person in the room for that, since I don't always know how to spell the French anatomical vocabulary. It was sort of embarrassing, but I managed!
In the afternoon we saw the autopsy of easily the most healthy-looking person we saw. He was a man in his 40's, quite athletic - almost pure muscle, but not in a gross way. The story was that he went out for a jog and just never came back. His wife called the police three days after! Maybe he just disappeared like that in the past. He had a history of heart problems, and we found a coronary stent when we cut open the heart.
His liver was huge - 2300 grams. The doc explained that when the heart isn't circulating enough blood, the liver needs to compensate. I didn't quite understand... I'll look into it.
Next we looked at the heart, which presented severe atherosclerosis, the calcified fatty accumulation in the coronary arteries. There was also a spot that had ruptured. In the area around the heart, large amounts of "agonie" was found (that's to say gelatinous globs of coagulated blood). The diagnosis was clear - she suffered from intense hypertension and her heart literally burst as a result of extremely high blood pressure.
Next was a body that was exhumed from somewhere. Unfortunately I didn't quite understand the parsimonious backstory I was told. All I can say is that it was at least 6 months old and didn't stink! *EDIT: The body was more than 3 years old.* The head and upper torso were completely desiccated, but interestingly the butt and legs had maintained their shape more or less. This is because under the right environmental conditions high concentrations of fat can turn into a waxy, soapy substance. Essentially the outside of the bottom half of the body had turned into soap, preserving everything within.
A clean-cut doctor I had not met before was in charge of the operation. He paid little heed to the lackeys that surrounded him, giving orders left and right. He suddenly put me in charge of labelling all of the little plastic containers that we put the organs in, which I was more than happy to do! Of course I was the least qualified person in the room for that, since I don't always know how to spell the French anatomical vocabulary. It was sort of embarrassing, but I managed!
In the afternoon we saw the autopsy of easily the most healthy-looking person we saw. He was a man in his 40's, quite athletic - almost pure muscle, but not in a gross way. The story was that he went out for a jog and just never came back. His wife called the police three days after! Maybe he just disappeared like that in the past. He had a history of heart problems, and we found a coronary stent when we cut open the heart.
His liver was huge - 2300 grams. The doc explained that when the heart isn't circulating enough blood, the liver needs to compensate. I didn't quite understand... I'll look into it.
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