Autopsy and Forensic Pathology

Abstract

The development of the autopsy as a technique to directly observe abnormalities or disease processes while dissecting the human body was dependent on the appreciation of normal human anatomy [1–3]. The Alexandrian scientist Herophilus (395–280 BC) was one of the first scientists to dissect the human body. Knowledge of normal human anatomy increased slowly in ancient times and it was not until the Middle Ages that this knowledge had a major impact on medical theory [3]. In the twentieth century the autopsy continued to contribute to progress in medicine. In the 1960s some hospitals reported performing autopsies in around 70 percent of patients who died in the hospital. However, a few decades later, autopsy rates had declined to around zero to 10 percent of patients dying in hospitals. Molecular genetics and molecular diagnostics have added to the diagnostic strengths of many areas of pathology including autopsy pathology. Virtopsy is a combination of postmortem examination with imaging methods including computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and three dimensional imaging to find the cause of death. Forensic pathologists perform autopsies on people who die unexpectedly, suddenly or violently to determine the cause and manner of death. Forensic pathologists in the U.S.A. are usually board certified in general pathology and forensic pathology by the American Board of Pathology.