The Impact of Declining Clinical Autopsy: Need for Revised Healthcare Policy

Injury patterns of soldiers in the second Lebanon war

“…The feasibility of timely autopsies on all war fatalities can be limited by logistic considerations, especially in large-scale events, or by social and religious sensitivities, as in Israel. 20,21 Combat fatalities are generally divided into two categories as follows: killed in action, referring to casualties who died before reaching a medical treatment facility, and died of wounds, referring to those who died after arriving at the medical treatment facility. 1,5,22 However, the utility of this categorization has recently been questioned.…”

An Audit of Medical Autopsy: Experience at the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital (UUTH), Niger Delta Region, Nigeria

“…Other studies have implicated the advancement in medical technology such as the availability of Computerized Tomography Scan (CTS), Magnetic Resonance Imagining (MRI) and Arteriography for use in the diagnosis of diseases and conditions that result in death. [4][5][6][7]11] The negative attitude of medical personnel toward autopsy may result from fear of litigation should the findings on autopsy be indicting on such personnel. Relations of deceased persons also often refuse autopsy because of concern about 'mutilation' of the dead body.…”

“…[1,2,[4][5][6] In spite of the numerous advantages of autopsy, the rate of request has been found to be declining globally. [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11] Many reasons have been ascribed to this trend in the developed countries such as availability of modern diagnostic equipment including Computerized tomography scan (CTS), Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and ultrasound scan. In contrast, in the developing countries, the negative attitude of medical personnel toward patients and their relations and the unwillingness of patients' relations to accept autopsy have contributed to this worrisome trend.…”

“…Medico-legal investigation of death focuses on the establishment of the cause of death, the time and the circumstances of death. [1,2,[4][5][6] In spite of the numerous advantages of autopsy, the rate of request has been found to be declining globally. [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11] Many reasons have been ascribed to this trend in the developed countries such as availability of modern diagnostic equipment including Computerized tomography scan (CTS), Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and ultrasound scan.…”

“…In contrast, in the developing countries, the negative attitude of medical personnel toward patients and their relations and the unwillingness of patients' relations to accept autopsy have contributed to this worrisome trend. [4][5][6][7]11] This study was set out to review all cases of autopsy that were performed during the study period and to determine the rate, indications, as well as the age and sex distribution of dead bodies in the study population. It is hoped that the findings of this study would help us make a case for routine autopsy for all dead bodies that are brought to the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital (UUTH) mortuary.…”