title: Value of the necropsy in perioperative deaths.
abstract: A series of 213 perioperative deaths was studied out of a total of 1451 consecutive necropsies carried out over three years. Discrepancies between the clinical and the necropsy diagnosis were assessed under four classes of discrepant diagnosis: class I, patient survival affected, treatable; class II, patient survival affected but not treatable; class III, correlated to cause of death but treatable; and class IV, incidental diagnosis which could not have been made before death. Major discrepancies of classes I and II were found in 44 (21%) and 62 (29%) cases, respectively. Minor discrepancies of classes III and IV were found in 63 (30%) and 101 (47%) cases, respectively. No discrepancies were found in 50 (23.5%) cases. These results confirm the continuing value of the necropsy in the assessment of perioperative deaths.
authors.affiliation: Queen's University Department of Pathology, Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast, Northern Ireland.
authors.forename: J H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Shanks
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: McCluggage
authors.forename: N H
authors.initials: NH
authors.lastname: Anderson
authors.forename: P G
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Toner
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001344:Autopsy; D002423:Cause of Death; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008485:Medical Audit; D008875:Middle Aged; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000401:mortality*; D012189:Retrospective Studies