Forensic Sciences in Clinical Medicine

From The Critics

Reviewer: Butch Huston, MD(Milwaukee County Medical Examiners Office)
Description: This is a first edition text that applies the techniques and principals of forensic science to clinical situations with the aim of improving patient care and anticipating complications following traumatic injury.
Purpose: The purpose is to bridge the gap between clinical forensic pathology and clinical medicine in order to improve patient outcomes and quality of care. These worthy objectives were met on an introductory level.
Audience: The intended audience is general pathologists and clinicians such as trauma surgeons, ED physicians and staff, and paramedic personnel. This book may also be useful for forensic investigators, resident physicians, and coroners who may have limited medical training.
Features: The content is uniquely presented with case-based discussions and photographs of patterned injuries combined with medical history, scene investigations, and pathologic and radiologic correlations. Specific injuries resulting from gunshot wounds, and sharp, blunt, and compressive force injuries are discussed. The chapters on multiple organ dysfunction and complications of trauma are especially useful for both pathologists and clinicians. Proper evidence management in the healthcare environment is addressed in the appendix, and specific recommendations are provided. Unfortunately, the author fails to stress that all evidence should be released to an investigating agency in every death resulting from trauma. There is a good mixture of photographs illustrating scenes, surgical and radiographic findings, and both gross and histo-pathology. Some photographs could benefit from arrows to direct the reader's attention to the narrative point. The subjects covered tend to be brief and limited to the cases presented, although the author succeeds in including additional information in the discussion. The photographs for Illustrative case #2 in Chapter 2 and Illustrative case #91 in Chapter 6 are repetitive.
Assessment: This book fills a void, as there are no other books in forensic pathology that are dedicated to the combination of forensic pathology and clinical medicine. Therefore, it is difficult to compare this book to others. The case- based format is unique, but presents difficulty if one is trying to scan a chapter for a particular topic.

Butch Huston

This is a first edition text that applies the techniques and principals of forensic science to clinical situations with the aim of improving patient care and anticipating complications following traumatic injury. The purpose is to bridge the gap between clinical forensic pathology and clinical medicine in order to improve patient outcomes and quality of care. These worthy objectives were met on an introductory level. The intended audience is general pathologists and clinicians such as trauma surgeons, ED physicians and staff, and paramedic personnel. This book may also be useful for forensic investigators, resident physicians, and coroners who may have limited medical training. The content is uniquely presented with case-based discussions and photographs of patterned injuries combined with medical history, scene investigations, and pathologic and radiologic correlations. Specific injuries resulting from gunshot wounds, and sharp, blunt, and compressive force injuries are discussed. The chapters on multiple organ dysfunction and complications of trauma are especially useful for both pathologists and clinicians. Proper evidence management in the healthcare environment is addressed in the appendix, and specific recommendations are provided. Unfortunately, the author fails to stress that all evidence should be released to an investigating agency in every death resulting from trauma. There is a good mixture of photographs illustrating scenes, surgical and radiographic findings, and both gross and histo-pathology. Some photographs could benefit from arrows to direct the reader's attention to the narrative point. The subjects covered tend to be brief and limited to the cases presented,although the author succeeds in including additional information in the discussion. The photographs for Illustrative case #2 in Chapter 2 and Illustrative case #91 in Chapter 6 are repetitive. This book fills a void, as there are no other books in forensic pathology that are dedicated to the combination of forensic pathology and clinical medicine. Therefore, it is difficult to compare this book to others. The case- based format is unique, but presents difficulty if one is trying to scan a chapter for a particular topic.

Booknews

Using the case study format, patterns of injury are evaluated from the standpoint of both the circumstances of the trauma and the clinical presentation of the patient. The presenting medical and pathologic findings are discussed and related to the subsequent clinical course, and compared to cases with similar types of trauma. Topics include deceleration injuries; penetrating injuries; characteristics of sharp, blunt, compressive, projectile, and gunshot injuries; scene operations and prehospital considerations; consequences and complications of trauma; multiple organ dysfunction; head and central nervous system trauma; injuries of child abuse, spousal abuse, sexual battery, and elder abuse; forensic pathology relative to patient outcomes; evidence management; and medicolegal implications. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

3 Stars from Doody