Term
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Definition
| Involves performing a necropsy (greek word for viewing death, not autopsy, viewing self) or postmortem examination on a dead animal & describing the lesions in each organ |
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Term
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Definition
| Deals with evaluating tissues both visually (gross exam) and histopathologically (via the microscope). These tissues are taken during surgery and placed in a fixative & are sent to a pathologist |
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Term
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Definition
| Examining body fluids and impression smears of tissues |
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Term
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Definition
| Deals with medico-legal problems associated with the death of an animal |
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Term
| Reasons for doing a necropsy |
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Definition
1.To determine cause of death in a difficult or puzzling death
2. To assess the success or failure of a specific treatment.
3.For medico-legal reasons |
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Term
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Definition
1.Signalment-Owners name, address, phone number, & the animal's species, age, sex, name, and in the case of zoo animals, their ISIS #'s. Also list the date of death, post-mortem interval and date of necropsy
2.Anamnesis-Brief medical history, including clinical signs, duration of illness and treatments
3.Gross necropsy findings-Should contain a brief gross description, NOT INTERPRETATION, of organs and lesions. Size, shape, color, consistency, odor and a description of all lesions
4.Tentative diagnosis-A discussion of what was learned during the necropsy. The cause of death should be stated here. The interpretation of the lesions should be here and not in the gross findings.
5.Submissions of tissues to the laboratory-A short note should be added if the tissues are submitted to a lab for microbiology, toxicology, parasitology, or histopathology studies. 1 Copy of the report should be sent with the tissues submitted to the lab, another put with the medical record. |
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Term
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Definition
Chemicals that preserve the natural architecture of tissues.
Tissue size is important. Should not be more than 0.75 cm in thickness when placed in fixative. Except the brain which should be hemi-sected and the lungs |
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Term
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Definition
| 10% neutral buffered formalin can be used for all tissues. (formalin is actually 3.7% formaldehyde solution and is acidic, therefore it has to be buffered to a PH of 7 or it will cause acidic digestion of the tissues). In tightly closed containers it has a shelf life of 6 to 8 months. Total volume of formalin to solid tissues should be approximately 10:1 |
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Term
| Collection of specimen during necropsy |
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Definition
| Blood-Deteriorates rapidly. Should be collected within 4-5 hours after death from the heart. |
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Term
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Definition
| Most commonly done for ethylene glycol or strychnine poisoning in small mammals and is collected from the stomach contents or urine. For heavy metals (arsenic or lead) sections of the liver and kidney should be collected. |
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