Abstract
This chapter outlines the policies and procedures for conduction of hospital autopsies. The described policies and procedures are intended to be compliant with the College of American Pathologists Laboratory Accreditation Program and the ACGME Residency Review Committee requirements for training programs. The chapter contains an explanation of the process for determining involvement with medicolegal authorities and for participation in local or regional organ transplantation and tissue procurement programs. Procedures for lawful collection of specimens and tissues for research will be discussed. There is a list of standard criteria for establishing validity of the informed consent, followed by procedures for review of the medical history and determination of the need for ancillary clinical laboratory testing. The autopsy procedure is covered from beginning to end, with dissection techniques for removing the organs, examining the organs, and submitting histologic blocks. The discussion includes suggestions for descriptive terminology of gross autopsy findings, with emphasis on describing findings that are in the body before removing the organs. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the final autopsy report, death certificate, and RRC Case Log.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsSuggested Reading
General References
Death Investigation: A Guide for the Scene Investigator. United States Dept. of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, National Institute of Justice, CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. 2013.
Diagrams of body topography, organ systems, and individual organs are publicly available from the Office of the Armed Forces Medical Examiner (OAFME), through the web site for the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System (AFMES). Accessed at http://www.afmes.mil/index.cfm?pageid=resources.autopsy_diagrams.
Gilbert-Barness E, Kapur R, Oligny LL, Siebert J, editors. Potter’s pathology of the fetus, infant and child. 2nd ed. St. Louis: Mosby (Elsevier B.V.); 2007.
Gorina Y, Lentzner H. Multiple causes of death in old age. Aging Trends. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services. 2008. Accessed at http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/ahcd/agingtrends/09causes.pdf.
Gray F, Duyckaerts C, De Girolami U, editors. Escourolle & Poirier’s manual of basic neuropathology. 5th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 2013.
Hoyert DL, Kung HC, Xu J, The Division of Vital Statistics. Autopsy patterns in 2003: data on mortality. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services. 2007, series 20, number 32, DHHS publ. no. (PHS) 2007-1851, http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/series/sr_20/sr20_032.pdf.
Ludwig J, editor. Handbook of autopsy practice. 4th ed. Totowa: Humana Press; 2009.
National Guidelines for Death Investigation, by the National Medicolegal Review Panel, 1999, National Institute of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Dept. of Justice, publ. no. NCJ 167568. Available at https://www.ncjrs.gov/App/Publications/abstract.aspx?ID=167568.
Position Paper on Collection, Retention, and Disposition of Biologic Specimens. National Association of Medical Examiners Position Paper, 2008. https://netforum.avectra.com/eWeb/DynamicPage.aspx?Site=NAME&WebCode=PublicPositionPapers.
The Laboratory Accreditation requirements for autopsy services are from the College of American Pathologists. Commission on Laboratory Accreditation, Laboratory Accreditation Program, Anatomic Pathology Checklist. Accessed at http://www.cap.org.
The Residency Review Committee requirements for autopsy service are from the Residency Review Committee (RRC) of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. Accessed at http://www.acgme.org/acgmeweb/tabid/142/ProgramandInstitutionalAccreditation/Hospital-BasedSpecialties/Pathology.aspx.
Journal Articles
College of American Pathologists Conference XXIX. Restructuring autopsy practice for health care reform. A compendium of articles from the May 1995 conference. Arch Pathol Lab Med. 1996;120:693–785.
Hebert TM, Maleki S, Vasovic LV, Arnold JL, Steinberg JJ, Prystowsky MB. A team-based approach to autopsy education. Arch Pathol Lab Med. 2014;138:322–7.
Ironside JW, Bell JE. The “high-risk” neuropathological autopsy in AIDS and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease: principles and practice. Neuropathol Appl Neurobiol. 1996;22:388–93.
Jason D. The role of the medical examiner/coroner in organ and tissue procurement for transplantation. Am J Forensic Med Pathol. 1994;15:192–202.
Kuijpers CC, Fronczek J, van de Goot FR, Niessen HW, van Diest PJ, Jiwa M. The value of autopsies in the era of high-tech medicine: discrepant findings persist. J Clin Pathol. 2014;67:512–9.
Lazarou J, Pomeranz BH, Corey PN. Incidence of adverse drug reactions in hospitalized patients: a meta-analysis of prospective studies. JAMA. 1998;279:1200–5.
Powers JM, Autopsy Committee of the College of American Pathologists. Practice guidelines for autopsy pathology: autopsy procedures for brain, spinal cord, and neuromuscular system. Arch Pathol Lab Med. 1995;119:777–83.
Randall BB, Fierro MF, Froede RC, Forensic Pathology Committee of the College of American Pathologists. Practice guidelines for forensic pathology. Arch Pathol Lab Med. 1998;122:1056–64.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Hawley, D.A. (2016). Autopsy. In: Cheng, L., Bostwick, D. (eds) Essentials of Anatomic Pathology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-23380-2_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-23380-2_8
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-23379-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-23380-2
eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)