Autopsy of adult patients deceased in an academic hospital: Considerations of doctors and next-of-kin in the consent process

PLoS ONE

Volumn 11, Issue 10, 2016, Pages

  Blokker, Britt M ^a   Weustink, Annick C ^a   Hunink, M G Myriam ^a,b   Oosterhuis, J Wolter ^a  

^a ERASMUS MEDICAL CENTER   (Netherlands)

^b HARVARD SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ADULT; AUTOPSY; CAUSE OF DEATH; DOCTOR PATIENT RELATION; ELECTRONIC PATIENT RECORD; EMERGENCY WARD; EUROPEAN; HUMAN; INTENSIVE CARE; MAJOR CLINICAL STUDY; OBSERVATIONAL STUDY; ORGAN DONOR; PATIENT CARE; QUESTIONNAIRE; SURGICAL WARD; UNIVERSITY; ADOLESCENT; AGED; DONOR; ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORD; FAMILY; FEMALE; INFORMED CONSENT; MALE; MIDDLE AGED; PHYSICIAN; PROSPECTIVE STUDY; STATISTICS AND NUMERICAL DATA; UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL; VERY ELDERLY; YOUNG ADULT;

ACADEMIC MEDICAL CENTERS; ADOLESCENT; ADULT; AGED; AGED, 80 AND OVER; AUTOPSY; CAUSE OF DEATH; ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORDS; FAMILY; FEMALE; HUMANS; MALE; MIDDLE AGED; PHYSICIANS; PROSPECTIVE STUDIES; SURVEYS AND QUESTIONNAIRES; THIRD-PARTY CONSENT; TISSUE DONORS; YOUNG ADULT;

EID: 84991691971     PISSN: None     EISSN: 19326203     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0163811     Document Type: Article

References (30)

1. Shojania KG, Burton EC, McDonald KM, Goldman L. Changes in rates of autopsy-detected diagnostic errors over time: a systematic review. JAMA. 2003; 289(21):2849-56. Epub 2003/06/05. doi: 10.1001/jama.289.21.2849 289/21/2849 [pii]. PMID: 12783916.
2. Wittschieber D, Klauschen F, Kimmritz AC, von Winterfeld M, Kamphues C, Scholman HJ, et al. Who is at risk for diagnostic discrepancies? Comparison of pre- and postmortal diagnoses in 1800 patients of 3 medical decades in East and West Berlin. PLoS One. 2012; 7(5):e37460. Epub 2012/05/26. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0037460 PONE-D-11-23881 [pii]. PMID: 22629399; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3358345.
3. Burton JL, Underwood J. Clinical, educational, and epidemiological value of autopsy. Lancet. 2007; 369(9571):1471-80. PMID: WOS:000246017700034. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(07)60376-6
4. Gaensbacher S, Waldhoer T, Berzlanovich A. The slow death of autopsies: A retrospective analysis of the autopsy prevalence rate in Austria from 1990 to 2009. Eur J Epidemiol. 2012; 27(7):577-80. doi: 10.1007/s10654-012-9709-3 PMID: 22736188
5. Shojania KG, Burton EC. The vanishing nonforensic autopsy. N Engl J Med. 2008; 358(9):873-5. Epub 2008/02/29. 358/9/873 [pii] doi: 10.1056/NEJMp0707996 PMID: 18305264.
6. Brown HG. Perceptions of the autopsy: views from the lay public and program proposals. Hum Pathol. 1990; 21(2):154-8. Epub 1990/02/01. PMID: 2307442.
7. Mcphee SJ, Bottles K, Lo B, Saika G, Crommie D. To Redeem Them from Death - Reactions of Family Members to Autopsy. American Journal of Medicine. 1986; 80(4):665-71. doi: 10.1016/0002-9343(86)90822-3 PMID: ISI:A1986A879200020.
8. Ayoub T, Chow J. The conventional autopsy in modern medicine. J R Soc Med. 2008; 101(4):177-81. Epub 2008/04/05. 101/4/177 [pii] doi: 10.1258/jrsm.2008.070479 PMID: 18387908; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2312379.
9. van den Tweel JG, Wittekind C. The medical autopsy as quality assurance tool in clinical medicine: dreams and realities. Virchows Arch. 2015 Epub Aug 28. PubMed Central PMCID: 26316183.
10. Oluwasola OA, Fawole OI, Otegbayo AJ, Ogun GO, Adebamowo CA, Bamigboye AE. The autopsy: knowledge, attitude, and perceptions of doctors and relatives of the deceased. Arch Pathol Lab Med. 2009; 133(1):78-82. Epub 2009/01/07. 2008-0021-OAR1 [pii] doi: 10.1043/1543-2165-133.1.78 PMID: 19123741.
11. Hull MJ, Nazarian RM, Wheeler AE, Black-Schaffer WS, Mark EJ. Resident physician opinions on autopsy importance and procurement. Hum Pathol. 2007; 38(2):342-50. Epub 2006/12/01. S0046-8177(06)00508-9 [pii] doi: 10.1016/j.humpath.2006.08.011 PMID: 17134740.
12. Loughrey MB, McCluggage WG, Toner PG. The declining autopsy rate and clinicians' attitudes. Ulster Med J. 2000; 69(2):83-9. Epub 2001/02/24. PMID: 11196736; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2449188.
13. Burton JL, Underwood JC. Necropsy practice after the "organ retention scandal": requests, performance, and tissue retention. J Clin Pathol. 2003; 56(7):537-41. Epub 2003/07/02. PMID: 12835301; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC1769997.
14. Burton EC, Phillips RS, Covinsky KE, Sands LP, Goldman L, Dawson NV, et al. The relation of autopsy rate to physicians' beliefs and recommendations regarding autopsy. Am J Med. 2004; 117(4):255-61. Epub 2004/08/17. doi: 10.1016/j.amjmed.2004.01.028 S0002934304002578 [pii]. PMID: 15308435.
15. Sinard JH. Factors affecting autopsy rates, autopsy request rates, and autopsy findings at a large academic medical center. Exp Mol Pathol. 2001; 70(3):333-43. Epub 2001/06/22. doi: 10.1006/exmp.2001.2371 S0014-4800(01)92371-8 [pii]. PMID: 11418012.
16. Gatrad AR. Muslim customs surrounding death, bereavement, postmortem examinations, and organ transplants. BMJ. 1994; 309(6953):521-3. Epub 1994/08/20. PMID: 7848419; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2542725.
17. Jeganathan VS, Walker SR, Lawrence C. Resuscitating the autopsy in Australian hospitals. ANZ J Surg. 2006; 76(4):205-7. Epub 2006/05/10. ANS [pii] doi: 10.1111/j.1445-2197.2006.03703.x PMID: 16681532.
18. Hinchliffe SA, Godfrey HW, Hind CR. Attitudes of junior medical staff to requesting permission for autopsy. Postgrad Med J. 1994; 70(822):292-4. Epub 1994/04/01. PMID: 8183776; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2397882.
19. Charlton R. Autopsy and medical education: a review. J R Soc Med. 1994; 87(4):232-6. Epub 1994/04/01. PMID: 8182683; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC1294451.
20. Shojania KG, Burton EC, McDonald KM, Goldman L. Overestimation of clinical diagnostic performance caused by low necropsy rates. Qual Saf Health Care. 2005; 14(6):408-13. Epub 2005/12/06. 14/6/408 [pii] doi: 10.1136/qshc.2004.011973 PMID: 16326784; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC1744091.
21. Murken DR, Ding M, Branstetter BFt, Nichols L. Autopsy as a quality control measure for radiology, and vice versa. AJR Am J Roentgenol. 2012; 199(2):394-401. Epub 2012/07/25. 199/2/394 [pii] doi: 10.2214/AJR.11.8386 PMID: 22826402.
22. Kuijpers CCHJ, Fronczek J, van de Goot FRW, Niessen HWM, van Diest PJ, Jiwa M. The value of autopsies in the era of high-tech medicine: discrepant findings persist. Journal of Clinical Pathology. 2014; 67(6):512-9. doi: 10.1136/jclinpath-2013-202122 PMID: ISI:000336840300010.
23. Winters B, Custer J, Galvagno SM, Colantuoni E, Kapoor SG, Lee H, et al. Diagnostic errors in the intensive care unit: a systematic review of autopsy studies. Bmj Qual Saf. 2012; 21(11):894-902. doi: 10.1136/bmjqs-2012-000803 PMID: ISI:000310451400002.
24. Scordi-Bello IA, Kalb TH, Lento PA. Clinical setting and extent of premortem evaluation do not predict autopsy discrepancy rates. Mod Pathol. 2010; 23(9):1225-30. Epub 2010/06/08. modpathol2010107 [pii] doi: 10.1038/modpathol.2010.107 PMID: 20526285.
25. Tsitsikas DA, Brothwell M, Chin Aleong JA, Lister AT. The attitudes of relatives to autopsy: a misconception. J Clin Pathol. 2011; 64(5):412-4. Epub 2011/03/10. jcp.2010.086645 [pii] doi: 10.1136/jcp.2010.086645 PMID: 21385895.
26. Blokker BM, Wagensveld IM, Weustink AC, Oosterhuis JW, Hunink MG. Non-invasive or minimally invasive autopsy compared to conventional autopsy of suspected natural deaths in adults: a systematic review. Eur Radiol. 2015. Epub 2015 Jul 27 [Epub ahead of print].
27. Wichmann D, Heinemann A, Weinberg C, Vogel H, Hoepker WW, Grabherr S, et al. Virtual Autopsy With Multiphase Postmortem Computed Tomographic Angiography Versus Traditional Medical Autopsy to Investigate Unexpected Deaths of Hospitalized Patients. Ann Intern Med. 2014; 160 (8):534-41. PMID: ISI:000335143700003. doi: 10.7326/M13-2211
28. Thayyil S, Chandrasekaran M, Chitty LS, Wade A, Skordis-Worrall J, Bennett-Britton I, et al. Diagnostic accuracy of post-mortem magnetic resonance imaging in fetuses, children and adults: a systematic review. Eur J Radiol. 2010; 75(1):e142-8. Epub 2009/11/17. S0720-048X(09)00571-3 [pii] doi: 10.1016/j.ejrad.2009.10.007 PMID: 19910149.
29. van der Linden A, Blokker BM, Kap M, Weustink AC, Riegman PH, Oosterhuis JW. Post-Mortem Tissue Biopsies Obtained at Minimally Invasive Autopsy: An RNA-Quality Analysis. PLoS One. 2014; 9 (12):e115675. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0115675 PMID: 25531551
30. Saunders SL, Amoroso J, Morgan B, Rutty G. Consent of the recently bereaved to post-mortem targeted angiography research: 207 adult cases. J Clin Pathol. 2013; 66(4):326-9. Epub 2012/12/12. jclinpath-2012-201250 [pii] doi: 10.1136/jclinpath-2012-201250 PMID: 23223564.