title: An autopsy: A historical vignette.
abstract: This paper recounts a case report from 1853 that describes the circumstances surrounding the death of a young woman, the request for and granting of permission for an autopsy, and exposition of how the autopsy findings were used from the point of view of education, quality control of practice, and vital statistics. There is, in addition, a description of the evolution of the use of the word autopsy.
authors.affiliation: American Board of Pathology, Tampa, FL 33622-5915, USA.
authors.forename: W H
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Hartmann
mesh_terms: D001344:Autopsy / Q000266:history*; D005260:Female; D049672:History, 19th Century; D006801:Humans; D009626:Terminology as Topic; D014456:Ulcer / Q000266:history / Q000473:pathology; D014481:United States; D014592:Uterine Hemorrhage / Q000266:history / Q000473:pathology; D014594:Uterine Neoplasms / Q000266:history / Q000473:pathology