East Midlands Forensic Pathology Unit, University of Leicester, Leicester Royal Infirmary, Leicester, UK.
J Clin Pathol. 2013 Apr;66(4):326-9. doi: 10.1136/jclinpath-2012-201250. Epub 2012 Dec 8.
To present our experience of prospective telephone consenting for post-mortem CT angiography (PMCT-A) research using HM coroners' cases.
Local ethics committee, research and development office, and local HM coroners gave their permission for the families of the deceased, in cases where a 'routine' coroner's autopsy had been authorised, to be approached for their consent to PMCT-A research before the autopsy examination. A forensic pathologist or trial consenter telephoned the next of kin, discussed the nature of the study and obtained verbal informed consent for post-mortem imaging, angiography, case-dependent histological and toxicology sampling and for the use of the images for teaching and training. Thematic analyses of the reasons for giving or refusing consent are provided.
Of the 207 cases approached, seven relatives refused to enter their next of kin into the study (96.6% consent rate).
This study shows that prospective consenting for HM coroners' cases to be used for autopsy research is feasible in adults, and can be done ethically, and in the limited time available, by obtaining the consent of the next of kin by telephone before autopsy.
介绍我们使用法医验尸官 HM 案例进行前瞻性电话同意死后 CT 血管造影 (PMCT-A) 研究的经验。
当地伦理委员会、研发办公室和当地法医验尸官允许在已授权进行“常规”法医尸检的情况下,在尸检检查之前联系死者的家属,征求他们对 PMCT-A 研究的同意。法医病理学家或试验同意者通过电话联系近亲,讨论研究的性质,并获得口头知情同意进行死后成像、血管造影、根据病例进行组织学和毒理学采样以及使用图像进行教学和培训。提供了同意或拒绝同意的原因的主题分析。
在联系的 207 例病例中,有 7 名亲属拒绝将其近亲纳入研究(同意率为 96.6%)。
本研究表明,在成人中,对法医验尸官 HM 案例进行前瞻性同意用于尸检研究是可行的,并且可以通过在尸检前通过电话征得近亲同意,在有限的时间内以合乎伦理的方式进行。