Autopsies are vital to any training institution in the pursuit of excellence and knowledge, providing good clinico-pathologic correlation and quality conferences for learning.

1. Dr. Paulino J. Garcia Memorial Research and
Medical Center
AUTOPSY

2. • examination of a person’s body after death
• Hospital autopsy is one of its type.
• done with the consent of the deceased person’s
relatives
• purpose of determining the cause of death/
final diagnoses
• and/or providing correlation of clinical diagnosis
and clinical symptoms.

3. • Autopsies are vital to any training
institution in the pursuit of excellence
and knowledge, providing good clinico-
pathologic correlation and quality
conferences for learning.

4. • eliminate suspicion
• provide reassurance to families
• substitute facts for conjecture
• construct a better defense

5. • The therapeutic value for surviving
family
• pathologists can identify or define
hereditary or contagious
diseases.
• provides the basis for genetic
counseling but also may indicate
preventive care for relatives

6. • Autopsies help families with the
grieving process
• removing guilt on the part of the
immediate family for believing that
they may have contributed to
death.

7. • The autopsy also provides an
opportunity for pathologists-in-
training to improve their knowledge
of normal and abnormal gross and
microscopic anatomy.

8. IMPORTANT
GUIDELINES FOR DEATH
NOTIFICATION BY
MEDICAL EXAMINERS

9. • Seek a private area
• Introduce yourself. Speak slowly and
calmly
• Briefly describe the events leading to
death, but tell the family that their relative
is dead early in the conversation
• Avoid medical jargon and graphic terms

10. • After the family’s immediate needs are
met, discuss any issues related to
“AUTOPSY”
• Allow them the opportunity to view the
deceased
• Accompany them initially, but permit
them time alone with their relative.

11. PROCESS FLOW FOR
AUTOPSY

12. 1. REQUEST FOR AUTOPSY
• The requesting physician shall initially talk to the relatives for
possible autopsy.
• The requesting physician must accomplish the anatomic
pathology post-mortem examination request form with
complete attachments
*** rabies, meningococcemia, other highly
infectious diseases, medicolegal***
• The pathology resident shall receive the duly accomplish the
anatomic pathology post-mortem examination request form

15. 2. EXPLANATION OF PROCEDURE AND
SECURING OF INFORMED CONSENT
• The pathology resident-in-charge shall
explain the limitation of the autopsy
procedure to the deceased patient’s
relatives (legal next of kin) in the
presence of other relatives and the
requesting physician.

16. • Surviving Spouse: If spouse
is deceased or incompetent
then...
• Adult Children: If none then...
• Parent: If none then...
• Brothers or Sisters: If none
then...
• Nephews or Nieces: If none
then...
• Adult Grandchildren: If none
then...
• Grandparents: If none then...
• Uncles or Aunts: If none
then...
• Cousins: If none then...
• Stepchildren: If none then...
• Relatives or next of kin of
previously deceased spouse:
If none then...
• Any relative or friend who
assume custody of the body
for burial.

17. • PARTIAL AUTOPSY
• Thorax
• Abdomen
• Thoraco-abdominal
• Brain and or spinal cord
• COMPLETE AUTOPSY
• Thoraco-abdominal and brain/spinal cord

18. • The pathology resident in charge will explain
the procedure in a calm manner, avoiding
graphic terms:
• Incision
• Tissues will be taken and will be
examined/processed in the laboratory
• Portion of an organ
• usually the grossly normal organs
• Whole organ
• usually the brain, heart and lungs, or any
organ with gross pathology

19. The relatives must also know the
following:
• Most of the tissues will be returned to the body
after the autopsy.
• However in some cases (pediatrics), we may
take all the organs to the lab
• The autopsy procedure will take approximately
2-4 hours depending on the case.
• The requesting physician may be invited to
join the procedure if needed
• Relatives are not allowed inside the morgue
while the residents are performing the
autopsy.

20. The relatives must also know the
following:
• The body will be released to the relatives after
the autopsy provided that all the necessary
requirements for the release of the cadaver are
met.
• Turn around time of complete autopsy result:
1-2 months
• Relatives may claim the organs taken for burial
or cremation after we release the final result

21. 2. EXPLANATION OF PROCEDURE AND
SECURING OF INFORMED CONSENT
• Once the legal next of kin agrees to
the procedure, the pathology resident-
in-charge shall let the legal next of kin
and a witness (clinical resident-in-
charge) sign the Post-mortem
Examination Authorization and
Consent Form.

25. 3. REVIEW OF CLINICAL HISTORY
• The pathology resident-in-charge
reviews the patient’s clinical abstract
submitted by the clinician in-charge
and takes a detailed history on the
patient’s course in the ward.

26. 4. PERFORMANCE OF AUTOPSY
• The pathology resident-in-charge shall
perform the external examination and
dissection, note gross findings on the
Autopsy Worksheet and take
representative specimens for
histopathologic study.

30. 5. ACCOMPLISHMENT OF THE
DEATH CERTIFICATE
• The pathology resident-in-charge shall fill up the “post-
mortem diagnosis” portion of the death certificate and
shall be given to the records section
• The pathology resident-in-charge shall accomplish
2 copies of the provisional anatomic diagnosis report
and give one copy to the requesting physician and the
cause of death shall be relayed to the requesting
physician within 24 hours.
•

31. 6. TISSUE PROCESSING
• Fixation of the tissues
• The pathology resident-in-charge shall
take sections to be submitted for tissue
processing.
• Grossing, embedding, cutting,
staining, mounting etc..

32. 7. SLIDE READING
• The pathology consultant together with the pathology
resident-in-charge shall read slides.
• After slide reading and in correlation with the gross
findings, the pathology resident-in-charge shall legibly
write the following on the Autopsy Worksheet and
Autopsy Logbook:
• complete histopathologic diagnoses, with
accompanying remarks, comments and/or
microscopic description.
• name/initial(s) of the reading consultant (and the
concurring consultant/s if the case was referred)
• date of signing out

33. 8. DRAFTING AND SIGNING OF THE
FINAL REPORT
• The pathology resident-in-charge shall
then draft, encode, print and collate a final
report.
• The pathology resident-in-charge shall
make 4 Copies of the Autopsy Report.
• Patient data and the results shall be
recorded in the autopsy logbook.

34. 9. RELEASING AND FILING OF THE
RESULT
• The copies of the Autopsy Report shall be distributed as
follows:
• 1 printed copy shall be released to the legal next of kin
• 1 printed copy shall be forwarded to the hospital records
section (for autopsies done in the hospital)
• 1 printed copy shall be filed in the Anatomic Pathology
section
• the pathology resident shall store an electronic copy and a
print-out of the final result.

35. • Thank you..