READ: The Autopsy

Reviewing Autopsy Reports

An autopsy report is written after the autopsy is completed. It is intended to describe the findings from the autopsy and declare the cause and manner of death. Cause of death is also known as "Mechanism of Death", and indicates the process that causes one or more vital organs or organ systems to fail when a fatal disease, injury, abnormality, or chemical insult occurs. It is the physiologic or structural change that makes independent life no longer possible after a lethal event has occurred. Examples include Hemorrhage, respiratory and cardiac arrest, and sepsis. Manner of death is a designation of whether the death was natural or unnatural.

The top 15 causes of death in the US are illustrated in the visual below.

Life expectancy in the US in 2011 was about 79 years. Life expectancy and cause of death varies throughout the world, however. For example, in Somalia, the life expectancy in 2011 was about 50 years. The top three causes of death were: 1) Diarrhea from diseases 2) Influenza and Pneumonia 3) War traumas. This is quite a difference from the top three causes of death in the United States! The country of origin and residence must be considered when conducting an autopsy if the deceased is from another country because they may have an illness or disease not commonly found in the area where they died.

Autopsy reports, in addition to cause and manner of death, also document other information. See the image to the right to discover what else is documented in a report.

When a pathologist or medical examiner writes the statement on the cause of death in an autopsy report, it is written as the "opinion" of the person. This is because the exact events surrounding the death are not always known. The examiner must give their best informed opinion after weighing all of the findings. Some autopsy reports are more in-depth and complex, whereas others are more focused and concise. The type of report varies by state and purpose as well as the possibility of being presented as evidence in a court case.

A death certificate is a legal document issued by a qualified medical practitioner certifying the death of a person and stating the cause of death, if known. Death certificates are required for various legal proceedings and settling of the deceased affairs. Families often seek a copy of the death certificate for various reasons such as to change social security benefit payments, collect insurance money or to modify banking accounts and household bills that were in the deceased person's name.

 Georgia Virtual, Autopsy and the Role of the Medical Examiner, CC BY-NC-SA 3.0