Autopsy

Autopsy means "see for yourself". It is a special surgical operation, performed by specially-trained physicians, on a dead body. Its purpose is to learn the truth about the person's health during life, and how the person really died. There are many advantages to getting an autopsy. Even when the law does not require it, there is always something interesting for the family to know. In doing around 800+ autopsies, I have always found something worth knowing that wasn't known during life. Even at major hospitals, in about one case in four we find major disease which was unknown in life. Giving families the explanations they want is one of the most satisfying things that I do.
At least a fifth of autopsies reveal a cause of death other than was was believed clinically. In "routine natural deaths" in England, 34% of the time the process that what was believed to be the cause of death prior to autopsy was completely wrong (J. Clin. Path. 61: 124, 2006). More than a quarter of autopsies reveal a major surprise other than the cause of death (Am. J. Clin. Path. 129: 102, 2008).