The Role of Pathological Examination of the Liver in Medicolegal Autopsy: A Tertiary Care Center Study From North India

Abstract

Background: The pathological examination of a medicolegal autopsy is a great learning opportunity for a pathologist as well as for a forensic expert, where the cause of death remains unknown. Liver disease epidemiology differs from one geographic area to another.Material and methods: This was a prospective observational study with 100 medicolegal autopsy cases over a one-year period conducted in the Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology (FMT) and Pathology. Representative tissue from the liver was collected in 10% neutral buffered formalin and sent for histopathological examination.Results: The mean age of the cases was 41.98 ± 15.39 years, and ages ranged from 20 to 90 years with male preponderance. The most common histopathology and gross findings noted were mild to moderate chronic hepatitis (CH) (54%) and fatty change (36%), respectively. There was a significant association (p ≤ 0.05) between histopathology and gross findings, cause, and manner of death.Conclusion: Gross and histopathological examination of the liver in a medicolegal autopsy has a significant role in ascertaining the cause and manner of death.