Autopsy and clinical diagnoses in a psychiatric hospital

We made a retrospective analysis of clinical diagnoses and autopsy findings for patients who died in the psychiatric hospital in the city of Zagreb in two different periods--1965-67 and 1985-87. Between these two periods, the autopsy rate decreased from 64 to 31%. The level of clinicopathological discrepancies remained the same, but with the decrease in autopsy rate a problem emerged in the diagnosis of respiratory diseases. The purpose and value of autopsy in a psychiatric hospital is discussed.