{"id":96915,"date":"2019-04-02T12:57:00","date_gmt":"2019-04-02T10:57:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=96915"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:23:16","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:23:16","slug":"you-cant-simply-say-that-youve-found-a-corpse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2019\/04\/02\/you-cant-simply-say-that-youve-found-a-corpse\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018You can\u2019t simply say that you\u2019ve found a corpse\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe prevailing idea in medicine is that people shouldn\u2019t be allowed to die,\u201d clinical pathologist G\u00fcl Elker remarks on Thursday in the Sanders Building. \u201cBut of course, the human body wasn\u2019t built to last forever.\u201d Eker is giving a lecture about autopsies together with Nelleke Eken-de Vos of the Public Prosecution Service. Eken-de Vos sheds light on the legal aspects of this activity, while Eker explains step by step what we are actually seeing on a big screen, which shows an autopsy she performed herself some years back.<\/p>\n

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Elker works as a pathologist for the Antwerp-based hospital groups GZA and ZNA. Before that, she worked for five years at Erasmus MC, where in 2010 she arranged for one of the autopsies she performed to be recorded on video. \u201cThe lady in question was in her eighties and had left her body to science,\u201d explains Elker. On the screen, we see how the pathologist makes a V-shaped incision in the deceased\u2019s chest. This is followed by an extended vertical cut along the centre of the thorax towards the lower abdomen. \u201cDon\u2019t be alarmed,\u201d says Elker. She uses her light pen to indicate the incision that will be used to \u2018open up\u2019 the cadaver. \u201cMost people have thick layers of fat under their skin. Unless you have a six-pack, of course,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n

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G\u00fcl Elker provides a step-by-step explanation while performing the autopsy.<\/span><\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure>

It\u2019s not for the weak of heart, but no one leaves the hall when they\u2019re given the chance. \u201cThe objective of this autopsy is to establish the cause of death,\u201d continues Elker, while on the screen, she is seen cutting the deceased\u2019s liver into thin slices. \u201cThat\u2019s why we subject all parts of the body to the most detailed possible examination.\u201d It is necessary to divide each of the organs into thin slices to determine whether it was affected by calcification or a tumour.<\/p>\n

Other side of the story<\/h2>

The lecture is attended by over 50 people. Most of them are studying medicine or law, but a few of the onlookers are criminology students. \u201cThis lecture is intended for students who at some point in their career can expect to be involved in decision-making regarding autopsies or the legal presentation of autopsy results,\u201d explains organiser Willem Scholten of Studium Generale. \u201cThe lecture is interdisciplinary, which means law students learn something about the human body \u2013 which isn\u2019t covered by their regular curriculum \u2013 while medical students are introduced to the legal aspects of an autopsy.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAysha Gasanova<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>

Part-time law student Ilona de Vroom finds the theme very interesting. \u201cI\u2019ll be starting a new job at the police in May,\u201d says De Vroom. \u201cI\u2019m interested in working in criminal investigation, and this lecture seems like a good place to start.\u201d<\/p>\n

Law student Merel de Jong was also interested in learning more about the specifics of an autopsy. \u201cI\u2019m in my second year right now, and I haven\u2019t decided what I will be specialising in for my master\u2019s,\u201d she says. \u201cIf I decide to work as a lawyer or on civil cases, this knowledge may prove very relevant.\u201d<\/p>\n

The same applies to medical students Sanne, Julia and Josje. \u201cThe most recent block included an autopsy,\u201d says Julia. \u201cWhile an autopsy is hardly new for us, they don\u2019t tell us about the legal process that leads up to a cadaver being laid out on our cutting table, for example.\u201d<\/p>\n

Legal dissection<\/h2>

\u201cWhat is a corpse?\u201d Nelleke Eken-de Vos of the Public Prosecution Service starts off her presentation with this question. One can only speak of a corpse when one finds one or more body parts that are required to support life \u2013 a head or a torso, for example. \u201cYou can\u2019t simply say that you\u2019ve found a corpse when you find a leg or arm,\u201d she concludes.<\/p>\n

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Nelleke Eken-de Vos of the Public Prosecution Service<\/span><\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure>

Eken-de Vos then goes into the nature of the deceased\u2019s death. \u201cWe speak of \u2018death by natural causes\u2019 when the only cause of death was a spontaneous disease,\u201d she explains. \u201cAll other causes of death fall under the category \u2018unnatural death\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

In other words, death as a result of a punishable offence is unnatural. \u201cBut not every unnatural death is the outcome of a punishable offence,\u201d notes Eken-de Vos. \u201cDrowning or some horrible accident, for instance.\u201d If the death is the outcome of a punishable offence, the surviving relatives have to surrender the body to the State. \u201cAt that point, the deceased\u2019s body falls to the State, and the surviving relatives are not allowed to bar us from performing a legal dissection: an autopsy performed by a forensic pathologist, in other words.\u201d<\/p>\n

Clinical autopsy<\/h2>

After a death by natural causes \u2013 and occasionally when an unnatural death is not linked to a punishable offence \u2013 the corpse is examined by a clinical pathologist. \u201cOf course, not every deceased is the subject of an autopsy,\u201d says Elker. \u201cWe only perform an autopsy when both the responsible physician and<\/em> the surviving relatives feel this is necessary.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

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\n\t\t\u2018We try to treat the deceased as respectfully as possible\u2019\n\t<\/blockquote>\n\n\t\t\t
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Another important consideration according to Elker is respect for the deceased. For this reason, both the deceased\u2019s head and pubic area are covered with sheets during the autopsy. \u201cWe try to treat them as respectfully as possible,\u201d says Elker. \u201cFor example, we never shave or cut the deceased\u2019s hair.\u201d And the V-shaped incision along the cadaver\u2019s chest is also done for a purpose. \u201cThis means that in the case of a female deceased, she can still be buried wearing a dress with a low neckline.\u201d<\/p>\n

After the lecture, the students go over to Elker to ask questions. One student asks about the policy with regard to donor organs \u2013 is a clinical pathologist ever involved in a donor transplantation? (the answer: no). Another student asks when a cadaver is officially released for embalming (the answer: only after the autopsy has been rounded off). \u201cI think my fellow students from other disciplines raise such interesting questions,\u201d remarks medical student Sanne. \u201cThey have such a completely different perspective on autopsies \u2013 one that we would never have thought of as medical students.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

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De redactie<\/h2>\n\t\t\n\t\t
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