UNANTICIPATED DIAGNOSES FOUND AT AUTOPSY IN AN URBAN PUBLIC TEACHING HOSPITAL

Citation
Eh. Bernicker et al., UNANTICIPATED DIAGNOSES FOUND AT AUTOPSY IN AN URBAN PUBLIC TEACHING HOSPITAL, The American journal of the medical sciences, 311(5), 1996, pp. 215-220
Citations number
21
Categorie Soggetti
Medicine, General & Internal
ISSN journal
00029629
Volume
311
Issue
5
Year of publication
1996
Pages
215 - 220
Database
ISI
SICI code
0002-9629(1996)311:5<215:UDFAAI>2.0.ZU;2-N
Abstract
The authors set out to evaluate the use of the autopsy in an urban pub lic teaching hospital setting during the AIDS era. Demographic and len gth of hospital stay data were obtained from weekly mortality review r eports on all patients dying on the medicine service between 1/1/92 an d 12/31/93. Clinical and autopsy diagnoses were compared for those pat ients who had autopsies. The autopsy rate was 16% (152/974). Significa nt, unsuspected diagnoses were found in 35% (53/152) of the cases, wit h infections, pulmonary emboli, and myocardial infarctions being most common. Human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients had a greater p ercentage of unsuspected findings (55%, 23/42), and many of these also were from an infectious etiology. The authors conclude that valuable, unsuspected information frequently can be obtained from autopsies in this clinical setting.