Limited autopsies. Defined benefits, limited costs

Discussions of the autopsy in conferences and the medical literature commonly depict it as a complex, time-consuming, difficult, and expensive procedure that requires sophisticated research techniques and should be performed only in large medical centers in coordination with organized research and teaching programs by teams of pathologists specially trained in this esoteric discipline. Many patients are cared for (and die) in community hospitals where pathologists perform "limited" autopsies that answer questions about the cause of death and the complications of the disease and its treatment and that provide sound data for mortality statistics and quality control. In view of anticipated funding problems, it appears to be desirable to seek such limited information at minimum expense.