title: [Efficiency of inspections of the corpse before cremation performed in the area of the Halle University Medical Centre].
abstract: From 1993 to 2007, the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Halle conducted 882 post-mortems before cremation. These records were now used for a systematic analysis of these cases to assess the efficiency of so-called second inspections of the corpse carried out in the area covered by the Halle University Hospital. In the period under review, considerable fluctuations were found from year to year, but these are mainly attributable to changes in the Saxony-Anhalt burial law introduced in 2002. Our 882 post-mortems were based on 84,677 corpse inspections before cremation; thus, an autopsy was performed in about 1% of all cases. Males were significantly overrepresented, younger age groups were dominant and there was a relatively high percentage where the first inspection of the corpse could not determine the manner of death or had to declare death by an unnatural cause. With regard to the manner and cause of death, the results of the first inspection and the post-mortem differed significantly. In 17.6% of our 882 cases, only the post-mortem revealed that death had been due to an unnatural cause. Despite the presence of sometimes strong clues to an unnatural cause, 156 of these cases were classified as natural deaths (56.4%) or the manner of death was stated as undetermined (43.6%). For more than two thirds of these 156 cases we were able to inspect the records kept by the Departments of Public Prosecution. 105 of these at first overlooked cases of unnatural deaths turned out to be deaths by accident. The other cases included 11 suicides, and 36 deaths related to medical treatment. In the remaining four cases, the autopsy results strongly suggested homicide, but only in one of these four cases subsequent police investigations were able to identify the perpetrator. This outcome demonstrates that the rule of inspecting the corpse a second time before cremation is clearly indispensable, even in its currently rather limited form.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Rechtsmedizin der Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg.
authors.forename: Steffen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Heide
authors.affiliation: Institut für Rechtsmedizin der Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg.
authors.forename: Dankwart
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Stiller
authors.affiliation: Institut für Rechtsmedizin der Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg.
authors.forename: Franziska
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Hilbig
authors.affiliation: Institut für Rechtsmedizin der Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg.
authors.forename: Rüdiger
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lessig
mesh_terms: D000059:Accidents / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001344:Autopsy / Q000592:standards*; D002423:Cause of Death; D055700:Cremation / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D017598:Efficiency, Organizational / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000592:standards*; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany; D006708:Homicide / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D006785:Hospitals, University; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009313:National Health Programs / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D012737:Sex Factors; D013405:Suicide / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence
vernacular_title: Effizienz der Krematoriumsleichenschau im Bereich des Universitätsklinikums Halle.