Also, it is thought that over one-fifth of unexpected findings can only be diagnosed histologically, i.e., by biopsy or autopsy, and that approximately one-quarter of unexpected findings, or 5% of all findings, are major and can similarly only be diagnosed from tissue. However, this rate has decreased over time and the study projects that in a contemporary US institution, 8.4% to 24.4% of autopsies will detect major diagnostic errors.Ī large meta-analysis suggested that approximately one-third of death certificates are incorrect and that half of the autopsies performed produced findings that were not suspected before the person died. a sizable number of cases ascribed to myocardial infarctions (MIs) were not MIs and a significant number of non-MIs were MIs.Ī systematic review of studies of the autopsy calculated that in about 25% of autopsies, a major diagnostic error will be revealed. Ī study that focused on myocardial infarction (heart attack) as a cause of death found significant errors of omission and commission, i.e. Organizations such as ZAKA in Israel and Misaskim in the United States generally guide families on how to ensure that an unnecessary autopsy is not made.Īutopsies are used in clinical medicine to identify a medical error or a previously unnoticed condition that may endanger the living, such as infectious diseases or exposure to hazardous materials. Some religions including Judaism and Islam usually discourage the performing of autopsies on their adherents. The most extreme example is the examination of murder victims, especially when medical examiners are looking for signs of death or the murder method, such as bullet wounds and exit points, signs of strangulation, or traces of poison. These examinations are performed under a legal authority ( medical examiner, coroner, or procurator fiscal) and do not require the consent of relatives of the deceased. When a person has permitted an autopsy in advance of their death, autopsies may also be carried out for the purposes of teaching or medical research.Īn autopsy is frequently performed in cases of sudden death, where a doctor is not able to write a death certificate, or when death is believed to result from an unnatural cause. Lundberg, have charged that the reduction in autopsies is negatively affecting the care delivered in hospitals, because when mistakes result in death, they are often not investigated and lessons, therefore, remain unlearned. Critics, including pathologist and former JAMA editor George D. In most Western countries the number of autopsies performed in hospitals has been decreasing every year since 1955. The principal aims of an autopsy are to determine the cause of death, mode of death, manner of death, the state of health of the person before he or she died, and whether any medical diagnosis and treatment before death were appropriate. The term “necropsy” derived from the Greek νεκρός (“death”) and ὄψις ( opsis, "sight, view"). The term "post-mortem" derives from the Latin post, 'after', and mortem, 'death'. The word has been in use since around the 17th century. The term "autopsy" derives from the Ancient Greek αὐτοψία autopsia, "to see for oneself", derived from αὐτός ( autos, "oneself") and ὄψις ( opsis, "sight, view"). Once an internal autopsy is complete, the body is reconstituted by sewing it back together. Permission from next of kin may be required for internal autopsy in some cases. Autopsies can be further classified into cases where external examination suffices, and those where the body is dissected and internal examination is conducted.
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