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Diagnostics
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Autopsy for Medical Diagnostics: 3rd Edition
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Autopsy for Medical Diagnostics: 3rd Edition

A special issue of Diagnostics (ISSN 2075-4418). This special issue belongs to the section "Pathology and Molecular Diagnostics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 August 2025 | Viewed by 1284

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Giulia Ottaviani

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Lino Rossi Research Center, Department of Biomedical, Surgical and Dental Sciences, University of Milan, 20122 Milan, Italy
Interests: anatomic pathology; cardiovascular pathology; autopsy for medical diagnostics; pathology of sudden unexpected death
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Simone G. Ramos

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Departamento de Patologia e Medicina Legal, Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, 14049-900 Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, Brasil
Interests: cardiovascular pathology; post-mortem investigation; autopsy; perinatal pathology; sudden unexpected death; sudden cardiac death; sudden infant death syndrome; cardiac conduction system; general pathology; surgical pathology; pulmonary pathology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue of Diagnostics addresses the scope of the practice of autopsy for medical diagnostics.

An autopsy is a post-mortem examination of the deceased body and organs to determine the cause of death and study the pathological changes. Autopsy is an anatomopathological professional activity that requires a high level of technical ability and knowledge for its performance and interpretation.

The importance of post-mortem investigations for the documentation of the cause of death will be discussed in this Special Issue, including the expanding roles of molecular autopsy. The indications and dissection techniques of autopsy will also be reviewed in this Special Issue, along with interpretations of post-mortem findings described in relation to clinical diagnostics and discussions about clinicopathological correlations. The role of the pathologist, especially the cardiovascular pathologist, will be discussed in terms of the evaluation of the cause of death. The objectives of autopsy will be considered, including assessments of the validity and appropriateness of diagnostic, medical, and surgical procedures. The provision of information to the patient’s relatives, to colleague physicians, to society at large, and to the medical literature, as discovered during the evaluation of subjects that died suddenly and unexpectedly, will also be addressed.

Basic information on virtual autopsies based on diagnostic imaging studies will be provided.  The increasing need for quality assurance in relation to autopsies, medical education, and training will also be presented. The teaching of autopsy procedures is “vital” in preserving and increasing medical knowledge in order to diminish undiagnosed medical illnesses, as stated in an old Latin aphorism: “Hic mors gaudet surrurrere vitae,” literally: “Here death is pleased to help life”.

Dr. Giulia Ottaviani
Dr. Simone G. Ramos
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Diagnostics is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • autopsy
  • post-mortem investigation
  • cardiovascular pathology
  • sudden cardiac death
  • sudden unexpected death
  • perinatal autopsy
  • molecular autopsy
  • virtual autopsy

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Related Special Issue

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Review

27 pages, 908 KiB  
Review
Forensic Microbiology: Challenges in Detecting Sexually Transmitted Infections
by Ana Eira, Jennifer Fadoni, António Amorim and Laura Cainé
Diagnostics 2025, 15(10), 1294; https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics15101294 - 21 May 2025
Abstract
Sexual assault crimes consist of acts committed without consent and represent a major global issue with serious implications for victims. These acts have both short- and long-term consequences on the physical, mental, and sexual health of victims, with sexually transmitted infections (STIs) being [...] Read more.
Sexual assault crimes consist of acts committed without consent and represent a major global issue with serious implications for victims. These acts have both short- and long-term consequences on the physical, mental, and sexual health of victims, with sexually transmitted infections (STIs) being one of the direct outcomes of such crimes. Sexually transmitted infections constitute a serious global public health problem and can lead to severe consequences. These infections may be caused by bacteria, viruses, or parasites and are transmitted through sexual contact. Some of the most common STIs among the general population and victims of sexual crimes include gonorrhoea, chlamydia, trichomoniasis, and syphilis. In most carriers, these infections are asymptomatic, making their detection particularly challenging. Considering the importance of further research in this field, the primary objectives of this study are to review the existing literature on the incidence of major STIs in victims of sexual crimes, to identify the various risk factors associated with these infections, and to explore their public health implications. Additionally, this study aims to assess different STI detection techniques, analyzing their advantages and disadvantages. Studies on this topic are crucial for better understanding the role of sexually transmitted infections in the context of sexual crimes. However, throughout this work, it was verified that point-of-care methods are a good option to allow the diagnosis to be faster and more accurate, when compared to other methods of detecting sexually transmitted infections. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Autopsy for Medical Diagnostics: 3rd Edition)
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22 pages, 1404 KiB  
Review
Sudden Cardiac Death: The Role of Molecular Autopsy with Next-Generation Sequencing
by Jennifer Fadoni, Agostinho Santos, António Amorim and Laura Cainé
Diagnostics 2025, 15(4), 460; https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics15040460 - 13 Feb 2025
Viewed by 922
Abstract
Molecular autopsy is a term employed to describe the investigation of the cause of death through the analysis of genetic information using biological samples collected post-mortem. Its utility becomes evident in situations where conventional medico-legal autopsy methods are not able to identify the [...] Read more.
Molecular autopsy is a term employed to describe the investigation of the cause of death through the analysis of genetic information using biological samples collected post-mortem. Its utility becomes evident in situations where conventional medico-legal autopsy methods are not able to identify the cause of death, i.e., in sudden cardiac death (SCD) cases in young individuals, where deaths are commonly due to genetic cardiac conditions, such as cardiomyopathies and channelopathies. The recent advancement in high-throughput sequencing techniques, such as next-generation sequencing (NGS), has allowed the investigation of a high number of genomic regions in a more cost-effective and faster approach. Unlike traditional sequencing methods, which can only sequence one DNA fragment at a time, NGS can sequence millions of short polynucleotide fragments simultaneously. This parallel approach reduces both the time and cost required to generate large-scale genomic data, making it a useful tool for applications ranging from basic research to molecular autopsy. In the forensic context, by enabling the examination of multiple genes or entire exomes and genomes, NGS enhances the accuracy and depth of genetic investigations, contributing to a better understanding of complex inherited diseases. However, challenges remain, such as the interpretation of variants of unknown significance (VUS), the need for standardized protocols, and the high demand for specialized bioinformatics expertise. Despite these challenges, NGS continues to offer significant promise for enhancing the precision of molecular autopsies. The goal of this review is to assess the effectiveness of contemporary advancements in molecular autopsy methodologies when applied to cases of SCD in young individuals and to present an overview of the steps involved in the analysis of NGS data and the interpretation of genetic variants. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Autopsy for Medical Diagnostics: 3rd Edition)
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