Autopsy assessment of pediatric head injury: a proposal for aerosol mitigation during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

During the Corona Virus Disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic, there is still a requirement for post-mortems to continue, including those examinations performed in the context of medico-legal investigations. Currently, very little is known about how long this coronavirus can survive in deceased human bodies or whether un-embalmed human cadavers can be contagious to people who handle them. Therefore, it would appear to be prudent to consider implementation of additional safety measures for all necessary post-mortem procedures. During the post-mortem examination of babies and young children, it is important to open the calvarium to enable visualization of the brain and its coverings, particularly in cases where a head injury is likely to have occurred. Since October 2013, the use of neurosurgical equipment to open the calvarium during infant and young child autopsies has become routine practice in our unit. Both the neurosurgical craniotome and a standard oscillating mortuary saw produce particulate matter consisting of bone and body fluids (including blood) which can become aerosolized. Within this paper, we discuss the use of a transparent plastic tent whilst opening the calvarium during pediatric post-mortems, to reduce the spread of aerosols into the mortuary environment.