School of Anatomical Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Anat Sci Educ. 2019 May;12(3):264-271. doi: 10.1002/ase.1814. Epub 2018 Sep 4.
While dissection remains the method of choice for teaching human anatomy, ethical requirements for obtaining cadavers has made the process of acquiring human bodies more strenuous for institutions. In Africa and at the School of Anatomical Sciences in South Africa, dependence on unclaimed bodies has been prevalent. The aim of the present study was to determine whether more rigorous application of ethical consent has altered the provenance of the cadavers in the School of Anatomical Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand. The numbers of bequeathed/donated/unclaimed cadavers received over the period 2013-2017, as well as their sex and population affinity were analyzed. The majority (96.8%) of the cadavers dissected over the period were from bequests/donations. Marginally more females than males were available. In addition, the population affinity of the cadavers had changed from a majority of South African African (unclaimed) bodies to a majority of South African White (bequest/donated) bodies. The study shows that even with ethical constraints it is possible to transition from the use of mainly unclaimed bodies to the acquisition of bequeathed/donor bodies. However, there may be challenges in relation to anatomical collections in the School as few of the bequest/donated cadavers remain in the School to be added to the collections. These changes also affect the demographics of the Schools' collections.
虽然解剖仍然是教授人体解剖学的首选方法，但获取尸体的伦理要求使得机构获取人体的过程更加艰难。在非洲和南非解剖学院，依赖无人认领的尸体已经很普遍。本研究旨在确定更严格地应用伦理同意是否改变了威特沃特斯兰德大学解剖学院尸体的来源。分析了 2013 年至 2017 年期间收到的遗赠/捐赠/无人认领的尸体数量、性别和人群亲和性。在此期间解剖的大多数（96.8%）尸体来自遗赠/捐赠。可用的女性略多于男性。此外，尸体的人群亲和性已经从大多数南非非洲人（无人认领）的尸体转变为大多数南非白人（遗赠/捐赠）的尸体。该研究表明，即使受到伦理限制，也有可能从主要使用无人认领的尸体过渡到获得遗赠/捐赠的尸体。然而，在解剖学院的解剖学收藏方面可能存在一些挑战，因为很少有遗赠/捐赠的尸体留在学院以添加到收藏中。这些变化还影响了学校收藏的人口统计学特征。
