The autopsy.

The autopsy can be divided into medico-legal and academic autopsies. The autopsy has proven its value in the elucidation of the cause of death, medical audit, clinical quality control, education and the continuing understanding of disease pathogenesis. In addition, the medico-legal autopsy plays an important role in the administration of justice. While the rate of medico-legal autopsies remains relatively stable, all over the world there has been a steady decline in the rate of academic autopsies. Most studies show an unsatisfactory agreement between the clinical diagnosis and the autopsy diagnosis. When the pattern of autopsies is skewed towards deaths of medico-legal significance, health statistics based on death certificates on which healthcare policies are formulated may not be useful. Therefore, the decline in autopsy rates should be reversed. All health professionals, hospital administrators, medical students and relatives should be educated about the relevance of the autopsy to each of them. There must be increased communication between the clinician and the pathologist.