A STUDY OF PATIENTS REFERRED FROM A-AND-E FOR CORONERS POSTMORTEM

A review of 179 autopsies was undertaken over a 1-year period to deter mine if clinically useful information was obtainable from coroners pos t mortems performed on patients referred from the A&E department. Fift y-six patients had undergone unsuccessful resuscitation. The leading c auses of death were heart disease and trauma. Discrepancies between th e diagnosis made during resuscitation and the cause of death found at autopsy were revealed especially in those dying from non-cardiac cause s. Iatrogenic trauma from resuscitation attempts occurred in a signifi cant number of cases. It is suggested that review of selected Coroners post mortems should be part of departmental audit, with a view to imp roving clinical skills.