Quality assessment of perinatal and infant postmortem examinations in Turkey.
An autopsy examination is important in identifying the cause of death and as a means of auditing clinical and forensic practice; however, especially in perinatal and infantile age groups determining the cause of death leads to some difficulties in autopsy practice. In this study, 15,640 autopsies recorded during the years 2000-2004 in the Mortuary Department of the Council of Forensic Medicine were reviewed. Autopsy findings of 510 cases between 20 completed weeks of gestation and 1 year of age were analyzed retrospectively. The quality of each necropsy report was assessed using a modification of the system gestational age assessment described by Rushton, which objectively scores aspects identified by the Royal College of Pathologists as being part of a necropsy. According to their ages, the cases were subdivided into three groups. Intrauterine deaths were 31% (158 cases), neonatal deaths were 24% (123 cases), and infantile deaths were 45% (229 cases) of all cases. Scores for the quality of the necropsy report were above the minimum acceptable score with 44% in intrauterine, 88% in neonatal and infantile deaths.
Pakis
Isil
I
Pathologist, Council of Forensic Medicine, Beylikdüzü, Istanbul, Turkey. isilpakis@yahoo.com
Karapirli
Mustafa
M
Karayel
Ferah
F
Turan
Arzu
A
Akyildiz
Elif
E
Polat
Oguz
O
D001344:Autopsy / Q000592:standards*; D005260:Female; D005313:Fetal Death / Q000453:epidemiology; D005333:Fetus / Q000473:pathology*; D049429:Forensic Pathology / Q000592:standards*; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007226:Infant Mortality; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008485:Medical Audit; D011247:Pregnancy; D011786:Quality Control; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology