title: [The role of pathological anatomy in the health affairs of the USSR. Its origin, organization and reform].
abstract: Organizational transformation of pathological anatomy within the national health service of the USSR is part of general restructuring of society. Emphasis will be laid on the establishment of independent "Pathologico-Anatomic Units" no longer subordinated to medical superintendents of hospitals. These will be comparable to large pathological institutes and will replace the great number of small hospital-based pathology departments. The above units will be set up with a view to stimulating introduction of modern diagnostic methods in pathology and to providing conditions for more efficient scientific evaluation of bioptic and postmortem findings. An account is given of pathological anatomy and its post-war record in the USSR, and the point is made that forthcoming challenges can be met only by larger institutions. The importance of autopsy is underlined, with reference being made to the need for higher quality standards in medical services for the general public. It would be wrong to conclude that the importance of autopsy has declined against the background of growth in medical knowledge. Postmortem findings will continue to be a valid basis on which medical specialists can train their own medical thinking and can learn about the dialectics of pathological processes. Postmortem investigations have rather gained in importance today, when natural courses of many diseases can be strongly modified by medical intervention and when an iatrogenic component may occasionally come up as an additional cause of death.
authors.affiliation: Pathologisch-anatomische Abteilung, Akademie der Medizinischen Wissenschaften der UdSSR, Moskau.
authors.forename: D S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Sarkisov
authors.forename: R D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Stern
authors.forename: A V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Smoljannikov
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D010336:Pathology / Q000458:organization & administration*; D014586:USSR
vernacular_title: Die Rolle der pathologischen Anatomie im Gesundheitswesen der UdSSR. Ihre Entstehung, Organisationsformen und Umgestaltung.