The autopsy in clinical quality control.

The postmortem examination, despite declining rates, remains the final word in diagnostic quality control and a major tool in research and education. In 100 autopsies studied at our institution, it was found that 13% of major clinical diagnoses were not confirmed, and in 24% the cause of death was not in the clinical diagnoses. These figures demonstrate a higher clinical diagnostic accuracy rate than in previous studies, and the possible reasons for this are discussed. The length of hospital stay is not found to have any bearing on diagnostic accuracy.