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Symmetric Bihemispheric Postmortem Brain Cutting to Study Healthy and Pathological Brain Conditions in Humans

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The Rokitansky Autopsy Method, Rediscovered.

Patrick Hansma¹

¹Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine, Kalamazoo, MI.

The American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology

|August 11, 2025

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Carl Rokitansky's autopsy method was obscured by a lack of publication and later errors. This study reconstructs his original autopsy technique, likely never lost but hidden in obscure sources, for the first time in over 100 years.

Keywords:

Carl Rokitansky Rokitansky autopsy autopsy method evisceration forensic pathology history history of medicine history of pathology pathology postmortem pathology postmortem technique

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Area of Science:

Medical History
Pathology
Autopsy Techniques

Background:

Carl Rokitansky's autopsy method is poorly understood due to his failure to publish it.
Subsequent generations of pathologists introduced errors and assumptions without consulting primary sources.

Purpose of the Study:

To reconstruct Carl Rokitansky's original autopsy method.
To make Rokitansky's method accessible to an English-speaking audience after more than a century.

Main Methods:

Reconstruction of Rokitansky's autopsy method.
Analysis of esoteric secondary sources detailing the method.

Main Results:

Carl Rokitansky's autopsy method was likely not lost but hidden in obscure literature.
The method has been reconstructed for the first time in over a century.

Conclusions:

Rokitansky's autopsy technique can be rediscovered through careful examination of historical texts.
This reconstruction provides valuable insights into historical autopsy practices.