| Since the beginning of the second half of the century, the steady decline in the number of autopsies carried out in hospitals has been a widespread reality. Among the causes that could explain this fact is the belief that the considerable advances in methods of clinical diagnosis might have made the incidence of errors virtually non-existent, thus rendering superfluous or unnecessary the practice of post-mortem examinations. As a result, the anatomoclinical method, which underpins the entire modern medical praxis, would appear to be reaching its end and the current role of autopsies would be limited to mere exercises of basic learning.;The main hypothesis of this study is diametrically opposed to the above premise. We consider that at present, and despite the improvements in diagnostic techniques, the post mortem still retains its validity, being an essential element in evaluating the quality of health care. In the present study, we also sought to determine the influence of various factors (age, sex and type of pathology presented by the patient) on the correlation between clinical diagnoses and those derived from autopsy results.;The study group consisted of 1,079 autopsies carried out in the Department of Pathological Anatomy at "Marques de Valdecilla" University Hospital between 1988 and 1992. The clinical/pathological correlation was evaluated employing two systems simultaneously: that specially designed by our group and the more widely recognised one from the University of New Mexico.;The results obtained reveal interesting aspects related to the clinical/pathological correlation, amongst which stands out the significant number of unexpected autopsy findings that constitute important diagnoses. The review of other study groups figuring in publications over the last twenty years, in addition to the contribution made by our own data, serve to highlight the true significance of autopsies in medicine nowadays. |
