Autopsy for Medical Diagnostics

Dear Colleagues,

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

Autopsy is the post-mortem examination of the deceased body and organs to determine the cause of death and to study the pathological changes. Autopsy is an anatomo-pathological 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 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, with discussions about clinico-pathological correlations.  The role of the pathologist, especially the cardiovascular pathologist, will be discussed in terms of the evaluation of cause of death. The objectives of the 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 the society at large and to 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. Anna M. Lavezzi
Dr. Simone G. Ramos
Guest Editors

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