[Comparison of 2 series of autopsies observed at Johns-Hopkins Medical Center, Baltimore (JHMI) and at the Neuchâtel Institute of Pathology (INAP)].

We are reporting the first results of a comparative study of 100 consecutive autopsies and their clinical diagnoses, observed at the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions (JHMI) and at the Institut neuchâtelois d'anatomie pathologique (INAP). The diagnoses of the two series were coded according to the two different systems used currently at the two institutions. The data from Baltimore were automatically classified by a special "key word method" using the categories of the Index Medicus (MeSH = Medical subject headings). We proceeded then to a second recording by SNOMED codes, introduced into the computer system in the same way as we document the autopsy diagnoses in Neuchâtel. The two series could be compared in detail according to topographical, morphological and aetiological parameters. The over-all repartition of the examined cases shows a higher incidence of newborns in Baltimore (23), in Neuchâtel we observed only 7 newborn autopsies. The mean age was inferior in Baltimore (males: 53.5 years for JHMI, 73.1 years for INAP; females: 58.4 years for JHMI, 66.2 years for INAP). The number of diagnoses per autopsy was 31.9 at JHMI, and 50.1 in Neuchâtel. The topographical distribution of clinical and autopsy diagnoses showed a higher frequency of central nervous system lesions in JHMI which might be explained by the activity of a neuropathological division. Findings concerning the morphological categories revealed a higher frequency in JHMI for traumatic abnormalities (7.2% vs 2.5%), malformations (4.3% vs 0.8%), whereas inflammation and fibrosis and degenerative lesions were more often encountered in Neuchâtel. The differences in morphological observations could be attributed to a higher proportion of newborn cases in JHMI with complex malformation syndromes.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)