Navigation

Forensic Medicine

Forensic Sciences in Clinical Medicine: A Case Study Approach William R Anderson Lippincott, Williams and Wilkins, 123.95 [pounds sterling], pp 272 ISBN 0 397 58777 5

Rating: **

Forensic pathologists have undoubted expertise in documenting and interpreting injuries. However, at least in the United Kingdom, their main audience is the legal profession in coroner's, civil, and criminal courts. Dr Anderson, an American forensic pathologist with over 20 years' experience, argues that their experience could be usefully applied to the audit of the clinical outcomes and the education of clinicians involved in the management of trauma victims. He has attempted to implement this philosophy in this text, directing it at trauma clinicians as well as forensic and general pathologists. Consequently, in contrast to other forensic pathology textbooks, this monograph is much more clinically oriented.

Individual chapters are based predominantly on types of injury or post-traumatic complications. They are centred on a series of case histories from the author's personal case files. The text consists almost entirely of a series of extended picture legends to over 700 colour and black and white photographs, mainly of the gross injuries but also of trauma scenes, histopathological sections, electrocardiograms, and radiographs.

The idiosyncratic organisation provides both the major strengths and weaknesses of the book. The quantity of illustrations far exceeds the standard forensic pathology texts, with abundant photographs of the appearances of a wide variety of injuries, but some are dearly superfluous and, although the clinical and macroscopic autopsy pictures are largely of good quality, many of the photomicrographs are poor. The accompanying text contains much useful information, and some of the case histories provide compelling reading and several salutary lessons. However, the exercise occasionally becomes irritating because text and accompanying illustration are often separated, necessitating frequent page turning, there is unnecessary repetition, and the text sometimes alternates confusingly between different case histories.

Nevertheless, this publication presents an interesting and novel approach that, if one can persevere with the deficiencies of organisation, could be usefully read by trainee forensic pathologists, general pathologists involved in coroner's work, forensic physicians, and any clinicians involved in the management of trauma and its medicolegal implications. Indeed, any clinicians who may encounter victims of general physical or sexual assaults would be well advised to at least read the sections on evidence management and guidelines on chain of custody.

Kevin Hollowood, consultant histopathologist, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, Deborah Rogers, honorary senior lecturer, St George's Hospital, London

COPYRIGHT 1999 British Medical Association
COPYRIGHT 2000 Gale Group