UC Berkeley, Berkeley, California, USA
Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, UC Davis Medical Center, Davis, California, USA.
J Clin Pathol. 2024 Aug 16;77(9):628-631. doi: 10.1136/jcp-2023-208876.
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the accuracy and validity of the determination of cause of death (COD) and manner of death (MOD) at the completion of the forensic autopsy prosection.
We analysed 952 autopsy cases conducted from 2019 to 2020 and compared every patient's COD, other significant contributing factors to death (OSC), and MOD after prosection to their COD, OSC and MOD after completion of the final autopsy report.
We found that 83% of cases (790 patients) did not have an unexpected change and 17% of cases (162 patients) exhibited a true change in their final diagnosis; the relationship between age and changes in COD and MOD was significant.
Our findings indicate that in the majority of forensic autopsy cases, medical professionals can reasonably complete death certification after the autopsy prosection. In addition to improving the accuracy of COD and MOD, advances in this field will enhance timely decedent affairs management, timely investigations of crimes and timely closure to families who have lost loved ones. We recommend implementing combined interventional education and consultation with expert pathologists, and a well-followed structured method of death classification as the best course of practice.
本研究旨在评估法医解剖完成时确定死因（COD）和死亡方式（MOD）的准确性和有效性。
我们分析了 2019 年至 2020 年进行的 952 例尸检案例，并将每位患者的尸检前 COD、其他对死亡有重大影响的因素（OSC）和 MOD 与最终尸检报告完成后的 COD、OSC 和 MOD 进行了比较。
我们发现 83%的病例（790 例）没有意外变化，17%的病例（162 例）最终诊断发生了真正的变化；年龄与 COD 和 MOD 变化之间存在显著关系。
我们的研究结果表明，在大多数法医尸检案例中，医疗专业人员可以在尸检完成后合理完成死亡证明。除了提高 COD 和 MOD 的准确性外，该领域的进展还将加强对死者家属的及时后事处理、及时犯罪调查和及时结案。我们建议实施联合干预教育和咨询专家病理学家，并遵循良好的结构化死亡分类方法作为最佳实践。
