The Value of Autopsy in Neonates in the 21st Century.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Autopsy rates in neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) patients who died are declining worldwide. Postmortem magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is suggested as adjunct to or substitute for autopsy.

Objective

The aim of this paper was to determine the additional diagnostic value of autopsy in NICU patients and whether autopsy findings were potentially detectable using postmortem MRI.

Methods

From 2008 to 2015, 298 infants died during admission to our NICU. Permission for unrestricted, nonforensic autopsy was obtained in 100 (33.6%) of these 298 infants. Retrospectively, autopsy reports and medical records of NICU patients were compared. Additional autopsy findings were graded according to the Goldman system, grading the clinical relevance of additional findings.

SUBMITTER: de Sevaux JLH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6425852 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature