Autopsy around the world

What is an autopsy?

A clinical autopsy is the final step in the identification of a person's illness or cause of death. Medicolegal autopsies have legal implications and try to determine whether a death was unintentional, homicide, suicide, or a natural event. The word autopsy is derived from the Greek word autopsia-“to see with one's own eyes.”

Without an autopsy, the cause of death can be wrong in as many as 30% of cases, but autopsies do not always provide the cause of death.2 In England and Wales a hospital (clinical) autopsy requires the consent of the patient's family, unlike a coroner's autopsy examination, which is required by law. A medicolegal (coroner's) autopsy will be requested in these circumstances:

• All unattended deaths (where the doctor has not seen the patient within 14 days)

• Unknown cause of death

• Unidentified deceased

• Unnatural or potentially unnatural deaths.

Clinical autopsies help the medical profession by providing information that could not be discovered in any other way. Much of what we know comes from autopsies. They help to:

• Identify the cause of death

• Confirm the nature of the illness and extent of disease

• Identify other undiagnosed pathologies

• Assess the effectiveness of treatments and drugs, and identify any adverse effects.

Anatomy and pathology

An autopsy can help a bereaved family to understand why their loved one has died and can enable doctors to answer their questions. The information gained might also benefit future generations of the …