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Rouse, James Anatomy
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Post Mortem Examinations and Case Books

  • 406 PM
  • Collection
  • 1840-1946

The post mortem records contain manuscript case notes, with medical notes both pre and post mortem. These include details on patients’ admission to the hospital, treatments and medication administered to patients and the medical history of patients; the medical histories were copied into the volumes from hospital registers, which are no longer extant. The post mortem cases include detailed pathological findings made during the detailed examination of the body after death. From the 1880s onwards the case books contain original anatomical drawings and photographs.

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The following information is recorded for each case. The information is transcribed from the case notes and/or the relevant index and, where relevant, additionally standardised using MeSH (Medical Subject Headings)

• Name of the patient. If a name is not entered in the volume, it is noted in the catalogue as ‘[No name stated]’

• Gender of the patient (female / male / unknown)

• Age of the patient. Usually in numbers, following the original, with the following exceptions: 4/12 = 4 months, 4/52 = 4 weeks, 4/365 = 4 days. If no age is entered, it is noted in the catalogue as ‘[No age stated]’

• Occupation of the patient. Where no occupation is entered, it is noted in the catalogue as ‘[No occupation stated]’. Children are often designated according to their father’s or mother’s occupation and women by their husband’s occupation (e.g. ‘F / Horsekeeper’, ‘M. Charwoman’, ‘Hd Grocer’); these have been rendered in the catalogue as ‘[Child of] Horsekeeper’, ‘[Wife of] Grocer’

• Date of admission and date of death

• The names of the doctors treating or examining the patient. ‘Admitted under the care of’ denotes the senior doctor in charge of the case (usually entered at the top of the page and in the index); ‘Post mortem performed by’ denotes the doctor responsible for the post mortem examination (usually signed at the bottom of the page) and ‘Medical examination performed by’ denotes the doctor responsible for the medical examination prior to death (usually signed at the bottom of the page). The earliest records usually contain only one name, and some of the later ones may contain multiple names in each category. An authority record (name access point) with basic biographical details has been created for each doctor mentioned in the records; these can be used to explore all the cases related to a particular individual

• Disease(s) or cause of death of the patient. Transcribed from the medical case and/or the index and standardised, e.g. ‘Disease (transcribed): Phthisis. Fractured base. Disease (standardised): Tuberculosis (lungs). Fracture (skull)’

• Medical and post mortem notes. Brief summary description or transcription of the case notes relating to previous medical history (not a full transcription of the case notes)

• Note on whether the case includes illustrations or photographs; these can also be browsed via genre access points

• Note on whether the death was caused by trauma, accident or suicide

• Subject access points, using standardised terms from MeSH, with disease type (e.g. respiratory tract diseases, cardiovascular diseases) and anatomy type (e.g. cardiovascular system, musculoskeletal system), which can be used for browsing all relevant cases

Note on transcriptions and abbreviations

Names have been silently expanded, e.g. Jas = James, Wm = William

Some common abbreviations and acronyms

AMCH = Atkinson Morley Convalescent Hospital, Wimbledon
BID = Brought in dead
COA = Condition on admission
F = Father
H or Hd = Husband
HP = House physician
HS = House surgeon
IP = In-patient
L = Left
M = Mother
MR or Med reg or Med r = Medical register or Medical registrar
MS = Museum specimen
OP = Out-patient
OPD = Out-patient department
OR = Obstetric register
PMH = Previous medical history
PH = Previous history
Pt or Pat = Patient
PM = Post mortem
R = Right
RF = Rheumatic fever
Ry = Railway
SR or Surg reg = Surgical register or Surgical registrar
TB = Tuberculosis
VD = Venereal disease

St George's Hospital, London

Luther Baker, 27, Commissionaire

Occupation or role: Commissionaire
Age: 27
Gender: Male
Date of admission: 13 Sep 1887
Date of death: 22 Feb 1888
Disease (transcribed): Sarcoma occupying the whole of the left half of the chest and bulging over two inches beyond the median line
Disease (standardised): Sarcoma (Chest)
Admitted under the care of: Rouse, James
Medical examination performed by: Penrose, Francis George
Post mortem examination performed by: Bull, William C.
Medical notes: 'An old soldier: no history of heritable disease. In 1882 he had a chancre which was followed by constitutional syphilis for which he was treated in Army with mercury. In 1884 he got a wound in the palm of the right hand: this healed at once […] In August 1885, the right forearm was amputated in Belfast Military Hospital’
Body parts examined in the post mortem: Body parts examined: Abdomen, heart, lungs, pericardium, heart, liver, spleen, kidneys, testicles
Illustrations or photographs: Yes (see PM/1888/68)
Type of incident: n/a

William Egleton, 62, Labourer

Occupation or role: Labourer
Age: 62
Gender: Male
Date of admission: 31 Dec 1887
Date of death: 13 Feb 1888
Disease (transcribed): Bronchitis
Disease (standardised): Bronchitis (Lungs)
Admitted under the care of: Rouse, James
Medical examination performed by: n/a
Post mortem examination performed by: n/a
Medical notes: n/a
Body parts examined in the post mortem: 'Not examined’
Illustrations or photographs: Yes (relating to case PM/1888/76)
Type of incident: n/a

Albert Brown, 5, [No occupation stated]

Occupation or role: [No occupation stated]
Age: 5
Gender: Male
Date of admission: 14 Mar 1890
Date of death: 2 Mar 1890
Disease (transcribed): Potts disease
Disease (standardised): Tuberculosis, spinal (Spine)
Admitted under the care of: Rouse, James
Medical examination performed by: n/a
Post mortem examination performed by: n/a
Medical notes: See Surgical notes
Body parts examined in the post mortem: No post mortem examination
Illustrations: Yes
Type of incident: n/a