Background: When conducting a forensic examination of burnt bodies, it is important to determine whether the victim was exposed fire while alive or after death. The differential diagnosis between antemortem and postmortem burning difficult often cannot be made based on information obtained solely from autopsy. aim study review current literature this topic present clinical cases that illustrate...

colleagues [1] share their view on the value of autopsy in the intensive care unit (ICU). Th ey are disappointed by the declining frequency of routine autopsy in the ICU. Th e arguments in favor are repeated and the arguments against are refuted as before. We will not do that again. Despite this understandable reasoning, it is a fact of life that the autopsy rate is declining. Are we missing th...

BACKGROUND Verbal autopsy analyses are widely used for estimating cause-specific mortality rates (CSMR) in the vast majority of the world without high-quality medical death registration. Verbal autopsies -- survey interviews with the caretakers of imminent decedents -- stand in for medical examinations or physical autopsies, which are infeasible or culturally prohibited. METHODS AND FINDINGS ...

Commentary Wherever the field of verbal autopsy (VA) may be heading, the exciting and considerable extent of new work presented in this Population Health Metrics series clearly shows that the topic is not withering. The Global Congress on Verbal Autopsy held in Bali in February 2011 undoubtedly marked a significant milestone: VA has come of age as an area of scientific interest in its own right...

This study outlines the role of autopsies in medical practice and health policy, details the nature and reason for declining rates, including those in Rochester, Minnesota, and suggests possible remedial measures to halt or reverse this trend. It is concluded that one of the principal impediments to reversing the declining rate of autopsies is what is referred to in Economics as "market failure...

An autopsy may subject prosectors and others to a wide variety of infectious agents, including bloodborne and aerosolized pathogens such as human immunodeficiency virus, hepatitis B and C viruses, and Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Other hazards include toxic chemicals (e.g., formalin, cyanide, and organophosphates) and radiation from radionuclides used for patient therapy and diagnosis. These ris...

very year American dictionaries add new words that have become so common that they are considered mainstream. In the area of medicolegal death investigation, “virtopsy” is trending in that direction. Most of us who work in the areas of forensic medicine and forensic toxicology have heard of the virtual autopsy—an autopsy based more on imaging than physical examination—for which the alias virtop...

CONTEXT In the South African mining sector, cardiorespiratory-specific autopsies are conducted under the Occupational Diseases in Mines and Works Act (ODMWA) on deceased mineworkers to determine eligibility for compensation. However, low levels of autopsy utilisation undermine the value of the service. OBJECTIVE To explore enablers and barriers to consent that impact on ODMWA autopsy utilisat...

Despite the initial promises, less invasive autopsy by postmortem MRI has not gained widespread acceptance and is not yet used as a clinical tool. Current evidence on postmortem MRI is primarily limited to examination of fetal brain malformations. Large prospective studies funded by the UK Department of Health evaluating accuracy of postmortem MRI are now nearing completion. Less invasive autop...