L9 Autopsy Flashcards
What is an autopsy?
Post-mortem examination; can be medical or forensic
Medical autopsies are performed in ___.
Hospitals
What are the 4 basic steps of a medical autopsy?
- External examination
- Internal examination of organs
- Histologic study of sections
- Clinico-pathalogic correlation
Consent for a medical autopsy must be obtained from ___.
The next of kin
What is a forensic autopsy?
Autopsy performed in the medical examiners by a forensic pathologist
What are some examples of cases that are referred to the medical examiner?
- Violent deaths
- Deaths <24 hours of hospital admission
- Deaths of healthy individuals
- Deaths during diagnostic/therapeutic procedures
- Deaths within 24 hours of anesthesia
- Deaths due to burns
- Deaths where drugs/alcohol may have been involved
- DOA to ED
What are a few reasons medical autopsies have decreased in recent years as it relates to clinicians?
Requested less often due to:
- More confidence in modern diagnostic techniques
- Discomfort with making request to grieving family
- Culture of medicine which does not dwell on failures
- Fear of results increasing malpractice cases
- More patients with chronic disease dying outside hospital
What are a few reasons medical autopsies have decreased in recent years as it relates to families?
- Not informed of value
- Fear of being charged
- Fear of delay in funeral arrangements
- Worry about disfigurement of deceased
What are a few reasons medical autopsies have decreased in recent years as it relates to pathologists?
Increased demands on their time
What are a few benefits to physicians to doing an autopsy?
- Establish final diagnoses, diagnose unsuspected disease
- Evaluate accuracy of pre-mortem diagnoses, results of treatment
- Determine COD
- Correlate lab, physical findings with pathologic changes of disease
- Quality assurance/improvement
What are a few benefits to families to doing an autopsy?
- ID of congenital or infectious disease
- Help eliminate belief that they contributed to death
- Provide comfort by providing COD
- Provide accurate data for benefits/worker’s comp
- Contribution to medical advancement
What are a few benefits to the public to doing an autopsy?
- Health surveillance
- ID of new diseases
- Demonstrate changing patterns of disease, effects of therapies, accuracy of imaging
What are a few benefits to medical students to doing an autopsy?
- Source of organs with disease processes
- Reinforce concepts learned
- Integrate clinical knowledge and pathologic findings
- Tissue for research
