The Ultimate Gift: Mortui vivos docebunt

✍ Scribed by Collins, Margaret H.

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1998
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 26 KB
• Volume: 30
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0098-1532
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1096-911x(199805)30:5<267::aid-mpo1>3.0.co;2-d

✦ Synopsis

The Ultimate Gift: Mortui vivos docebunt

Failure to perform a postmortem examination compounds the losses that inevitably occur following the death of every patient. The autopsy rate for hospitalized patients in the United States has declined precipitously over the past decades. Currently, U.S. autopsy rates of 0-10% are not uncommon [1], although they tend to be higher (31%) in academic medical centers [2], and traditionally have been highest for children (50%) [3]. This decline belies the fact that the reasons for performing autopsies are as important as ever and indeed have become more numerous and compelling.

In this issue, Sirkia ¨et al. report the results of postmortem examinations performed on children with cancer who died in a terminal care setting in Finland [4] and the authors address the relevance of an autopsy in such patients. There are multiple important reasons to perform autopsies on children who have died from cancer.