Determinants for autopsy after unexplained deaths possibly resulting from infectious causes, United States

Emerging Infectious Diseases

Volumn 18, Issue 4, 2012, Pages 549-555

  Liu, Lindy ^a   Callinan, Laura S ^a   Holman, Robert C ^a   Blau, Dianna M ^a  

^a CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ADOLESCENT; ADULT; ARTICLE; AUTOPSY; CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE; CAUSE OF DEATH; CHILD; DEATH CERTIFICATE; DEMOGRAPHY; EPIDEMIOLOGICAL DATA; FEMALE; GASTROINTESTINAL DISEASE; HUMAN; INFECTION; MALE; MEDICAL RECORD; NEUROLOGIC DISEASE; PRESCHOOL CHILD; RESPIRATORY TRACT DISEASE; SCHOOL CHILD; SEPSIS; SHOCK; UNITED STATES;

EID: 84863364944     PISSN: 10806040     EISSN: 10806059     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.3201/eid1804.111311     Document Type: Article

References (40)

1. Campbell GL, Hughes JM. Plague in India: a new warning from an old nemesis. Ann Intern Med. 1995;122:151-3.
2. Fischer SA, Graham MB, Kuehnert MJ, Kotton CN, Srinivasan A, Marty FM, et al. Transmission of lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus by organ transplantation. N Engl J Med. 2006;354:2235-49. http://dx.doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa053240
3. Novel Swine-Origin Influenza A (H1N1) Virus Investigation Team; Dawood FS, Jain S, Finelli L, Shaw MW, Lindstrom S, et al. Emergence of a novel swine-origin influenza A (H1N1) virus in humans. N Engl J Med. 2009;360:2605-15. http://dx.doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa0903810
4. Hajjeh RA, Relman D, Cieslak PR, Sofair AN, Passaro D, Flood J, et al. Surveillance for unexplained deaths and critical illnesses due to possibly infectious causes, United States, 1995-1998. Emerg Infect Dis. 2002;8:145-53. http://dx.doi.org/10.3201/eid0802.010165
5. McPhee SJ. Maximizing the benefits of autopsy for clinicians and families. What needs to be done. Arch Pathol Lab Med. 1996;120:743-8.
6. Zaki SR, Greer PW, Coffield LM, Goldsmith CS, Nolte KB, Foucar K, et al. Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome. Pathogenesis of an emerging infectious disease. Am J Pathol. 1995;146:552-79.
7. Shieh WJ, Guarner J, Layton M, Fine A, Miller J, Nash D, et al. The role of pathology in an investigation of an outbreak of West Nile encephalitis in New York, 1999. Emerg Infect Dis. 2000;6:370-2. http://dx.doi.org/10.3201/eid0604.000407
8. Nicholls JM, Poon LL, Lee KC, Ng WF, Lai ST, Leung CY, et al. Lung pathology of fatal severe acute respiratory syndrome. Lancet. 2003;361:1773-8. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(03)13413-7
9. Dalen JE. The moribund autopsy. DNR or CPR? Arch Intern Med. 1997;157:1633. http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/archinte.1997.00440360019001
10. Hanzlick R. Medical examiners, coroners, and public health: a review and update. Arch Pathol Lab Med. 2006;130:1274-82.
11. Nolte KB, Fischer M, Reagan S, Lynfield R. Guidelines to implement medical examiner/coroner-based surveillance for fatal infectious diseases and bioterrorism ("Med-X"). Am J Forensic Med Pathol. 2010;31:308-12. http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/PAF.0b013e3181c187b5
12. Hanzlick R. The conversion of coroner systems to medical examiner systems in the United States: a lull in the action. Am J Forensic Med Pathol. 2007;28:279-83. http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/PAF.0b013e31815b4d5a
13. National Center for Health Statistics. Vital statistics mortality data, multiple cause detail, 2003-2006. Public use data tape contents and documentation package. Hyattsville (MD): The Center; 2008.
14. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Multiple cause of death 1999-2006 [cited 2011 Nov 15]. http://wonder.cdc.gov/wonder/help/mcd.html
15. Perkins BA, Flood JM, Danila R, Holman RC, Reingold AL, Klug LA, et al. Unexplained deaths due to possibly infectious causes in the United States: defining the problem and designing surveillance and laboratory approaches. The Unexplained Deaths Working Group. Emerg Infect Dis. 1996;2:47-53. http://dx.doi.org/10.3201/eid0201.960106
16. Ingram DD, Parker JD, Schenker N, Weed JA, Hamilton B, Arias E, et al. United States Census 2000 population with bridged race categories. Vital Health Stat 2. 2003;(135):1-55.
17. nd ed. New York: Springer-Verlag; 2002.
18. Arizona Department of Health Services, Infectious Disease Epidemiology Program. Unexplained deaths with history of fever (UNEX) [cited 2011 Nov 15]. http://www.azdhs.gov/phs/oids/epi/unex/index.htm
19. Sinard JH. Factors affecting autopsy rates, autopsy request rates, and autopsy findings at a large academic medical center. Exp Mol Pathol. 2001;70:333-43. http://dx.doi.org/10.1006/exmp.2001.2371
20. Andrews-Joseph A, Bourgeois SS, Ratard RC. Louisiana autopsy patterns 1999-2006. J La State Med Soc. 2009;161(2):97, 99-102.
21. Hoyert DL. The changing profile of autopsied deaths in the United States, 1972-2007. NCHS data brief. No. 67, August 2011. Hyattsville (MD): US Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics; 2011 [cited 2011 Nov 15]. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db67.htm
22. Wolfe MI, Nolte KB, Yoon SS. Fatal infectious disease surveillance in a medical examiner database. Emerg Infect Dis. 2004;10:48-53.
23. Geller SA. Religious attitudes and the autopsy. Arch Pathol Lab Med. 1984;108:494-6.
24. Perkins HS, Supik JD, Hazuda HP. Autopsy decisions: the possibility of conflicting cultural attitudes. J Clin Ethics. 1993;4:145-54.
25. Krinsky CS, Lathrop SL, Reichard RR. A policy for the retention and extended examination of organs at autopsy. J Forensic Sci. 2010;55:418-22. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1556-4029.2009.01271.x
26. US Census Bureau. State and county quick facts: Arizona [cited 2011 Nov 15]. http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/04000.html
27. Whitehouse SR, Kissoon N, Singh N, Warren D. The utility of autopsies in a pediatric emergency department. Pediatr Emerg Care. 1994;10:72-5. http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/00006565-199404000-00002
28. Ahronheim JC, Bernholc AS, Clark WD. Age trends in autopsy rates. Striking decline in late life. JAMA. 1983;250:1182-6. http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jama.1983.03340090038026
29. Taggart MW, Craver R. Causes of death, determined by autopsy, in previously healthy (or near-healthy) children presenting to a children's hospital. Arch Pathol Lab Med. 2006;130:1780-5.
30. Beckwith JB. The value of the pediatric postmortem examination. Pediatr Clin North Am. 1989;36:29-36.
31. Angus DC, Linde-Zwirble WT, Lidicker J, Clermont G, Carcillo J, Pinsky MR. Epidemiology of severe sepsis in the United States: analysis of incidence, outcome, and associated costs of care. Crit Care Med. 2001;29:1303-10. http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/00003246-200107000-00002
32. Torgersen C, Moser P, Luckner G, Mayr V, Jochberger S, Hasibeder WR, et al. Macroscopic postmortem findings in 235 surgical intensive care patients with sepsis. Anesth Analg. 2009;108:1841-7. http://dx.doi.org/10.1213/ane.0b013e318195e11d
33. Hull MJ, Nazarian RM, Wheeler AE, Black-Schaffer WS, Mark EJ. Resident physician opinions on autopsy importance and procurement. Hum Pathol. 2007;38:342-50. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.humpath.2006.08.011
34. Molina DK, Wood LE, Frost RE. Is routine histopathologic examination beneficial in all medicolegal autopsies? Am J Forensic Med Pathol. 2007;28:1-3. http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/01.paf.0000257388.83605.0a
35. Chong PY, Chui P, Ling AE, Franks TJ, Tai DY, Leo YS, et al. Analysis of deaths during the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) epidemic in Singapore: challenges in determining a SARS diagnosis. Arch Pathol Lab Med. 2004;128:195-204.
36. Wilson ML, Gradus S, Zimmerman SJ. The role of local public health laboratories. Public Health Rep. 2010;125(Suppl 2):118-22.
37. Christiansen LR, Collins KA. Natural death in the forensic setting: a study and approach to the autopsy. Am J Forensic Med Pathol. 2007;28:20-3. http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/01.paf.0000233553.19938.a0
38. Huston BM, Malouf NN, Azar HA. Percutaneous needle autopsy sampling. Mod Pathol. 1996;9:1101-7.
39. Thali MJ, Yen K, Schweitzer W, Vock P, Boesch C, Ozdoba C, et al. Virtopsy, a new imaging horizon in forensic pathology: virtual autopsy by postmortem multislice computed tomography (MSCT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-a feasibility study. J Forensic Sci. 2003;48:386-403.
40. Thali MJ, Dirnhofer R, Becker R, Oliver W, Potter K. Is 'virtual histology' the next step after the 'virtual autopsy'? Magnetic resonance microscopy in forensic medicine. Magn Reson Imaging. 2004;22:1131-8. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.mri.2004.08.019