Current status of cadaver sources in Turkey and a wake-up call for Turkish anatomists

Abstract

Persisting difficulties in body procurement in Turkey led to the acquisition of donated, unclaimed, autopsied, and imported bodies regulated under current legislature. Yet, no study had investigated the extent of the on-going cadaver problem. This study was aimed to outline cadaver sources in anatomy departments and their effectiveness by means of an online survey. Additionally, official websites of each department were investigated regarding any information on body donation. Unclaimed cadavers (84.8%) were the major source for anatomy departments, followed by donated (50%) and imported cadavers (39.1%). Foundation-based medical faculties were more likely to import cadavers (P=0.008). There was a moderate increase (r(s)=0.567; P=0.018) in donation registrations to our department after 2000. The departments in cities with significantly higher City-Based Gross Domestic Product measures (US$9,900 vs. US$16,772, P=0.041), frequencies for mid- or high-school graduates (30.4% vs. 31.3%, P=0.041), and frequencies for under- or post-graduates (13.1% vs. 15.8%, P=0.24) had managed to use donated cadavers. Anatomy departments' major reasons for using unclaimed cadavers were education (45.9%), unclaimed cadavers being the only source (24.3%), and receiving inadequate donations (21.6%). Nine out of seventy-four departments (12.2%) provided information regarding body donation on their websites. Body procurement remains as a serious problem in Turkey and it is apparent that current legislature does not provide a sufficient cadaver inflow. Similarly, anatomy departments' effectiveness in public awareness of body donation and support in the National Body Donation Campaign seems questionable. Anat Sci Educ 11: 155-165. (c) 2017 American Association of Anatomists.