Clinical-pathological discrepancies in critically ill patients with difficult premortem diagnoses.

INTRODUCTION

The importance of autopsies is a common theme of discussions both in Brazil and around the world as it elucidates causes of death and has wide ranging social value. However this is a practice that is gradually being considered unnecessary and there have been a decline in the number of postmortems examinations.

OBJECTIVES

To compare clinical and pathological diagnosis in critically ill patients with difficult premortem diagnosis.

METHODS

All autopsy cases (total of 98) from any of the three general medical/surgical intensive care units (78 beds in total) affiliated to the medical school from January 2003 to December 2006 were analyzed. We analyzed the clinical and pathological diagnosis based on the Goldman criteria.

RESULTS

In 49 (50%) cases, there were class I and II of Goldman. In contrast, only 30 (30.6%) had a complete agreement between premortem and postmortem diagnosis and were classified as class V. Infections had a significantly greater rate of concordant diagnosis than cardiovascular diseases.

CONCLUSION

We found significant discrepancies between clinical and pathological findings, reinforcing the value of postmortem examination.