Abstract
Current practice in medicine uses a variety of radioactive sources; they are introduced into a human body intentionally for medical research, diagnosis and therapy, or when there is an accident involving radioactive materials. Because the latter is fortunately rare, medical procedures are the main cause of radioactivity in a dead body. Each year, nearly ten million medical procedures involve injection or ingestion of radioactive materials by patients (1). Since most affected patients are in an older age group (e.g., 81% for heart studies with radioactive material are done in patients past 45 yr of age), deaths and hence embalming, autopsies, and cremation of radioactive cadavers are likely to occur with increasing frequency.
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Classic, K.L. (2002). Autopsy of Bodies Containing Radioactive Materials. In: Handbook of Autopsy Practice. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59259-286-9_13
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59259-286-9_13
Publisher Name: Humana Press, Totowa, NJ
Print ISBN: 978-1-4757-5347-9
Online ISBN: 978-1-59259-286-9
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