Nervous system

The head is elevated slightly with a wooden block or a metal headrest attached to the autopsy table. The hair is parted with a comb along a coronal plane connecting one mastoid with the other over the convexity (Fig. 4-1).A sharp scalpel blade can then be used to cut through the whole thickness of the scalp from the outside. The incision should starton the right side of the head(the viewing-side in most American funeral parlors) just behind the earlobe, as low as possible without extending below the earlobe, and extend to the comparable level on the other side. This will make reflection of the scalp considerably easier. Sufficient tissue should be left behind the ear to permit easy sewing of the incision by the mortician. Fig. 4-1 Scalp incision. Dotted line indicates coronal plane of the primary incision. It starts on right side over the mastoid just behind earlobe and passes over palpable posterolateral ridges of parietal bones to reach opposite mastoid. This line is slightly tilted backward from plane parallel with face.