BMJ 1994;308:1054 (23 April)

Editorials

General practitioners and necropsies

The clinical picture during life and necropsy findings are two sides of the same coin. To look at one without the other is to see only half the picture. Proof of that assertion comes from the known discrepancy between the clinical and necropsy findings - for example, Cameron et al found that 15% of the main diagnoses and 42% of causes of death were not confirmed at necropsy and Hartveit reported that one in five diagnoses thought to be certain were found to be erroneous.1,2

In this issue Berlin et al report that only 20% of deaths in the community are followed by necropsies and that three quarters of those are requested by coroners for legal and not for medical reasons (p 1080).3 Why, then, do general practitioners so rarely request necropsies when they sign about one quarter of all death certificates? Berlin et al found that in the main . . . [Full text of this article]


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Relevant Article

General practioners and necropsies General practioners are welcome at necropsies
F Patel, J Leigh, P McCartney, D Slater, R D Start, and D W K Cotton
BMJ 1994 308: 1711-1712. [Extract] [Full Text]

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  • Patel, F, Leigh, J, McCartney, P, Slater, D, Start, R D, Cotton, D W K (1994). General practitioners and necropsies. May harm relationships with relatives.. BMJ 308: 1711-1712 [Full text]  
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