[Autopsies at a nursing home].

We studied the clinical data and the autopsy findings of 88 patients to evaluate the importance of autopsies in Dutch nursing homes. The results of this retrospective analysis showed that 28% of the clinical diagnoses were not confirmed by autopsy. In 40% of the cases the direct cause of death was different from that expected by the clinician. In particulars, pneumonia and congestive heart failure relatively often caused diagnostic problems in a psychogeriatric nursing home. Autopsies appear to be useful to study causes of death, to verify the clinical diagnoses and to evaluate the results of treatment.