[Future prospects of investigation into the cause of death]

While the total number of autopsies has steadily remained at 30 to 35% of all deaths, a change has occurred in the ratio of medical autopsies to forensic ones. The number of forensic autopsies has been on a steady rise since the 1980's. The most recent sectors of forensic medicine include applied molecular genetics and radiological imaging (virtopsy). Molecular autopsies and the virtopsy technique provide novel information that is inaccessible for the classical autopsy, but can be crucial for the determination of the cause and manner of death.