Relation between clinical and autopsy diagnoses, especially as regards cancer

The clinical diagnoses of 377 patients were compared with those derived from autopsy; the incidence, confirmation rate and detection rate were correlated to age, sex and duration of stay in the hospital. The diagnoses were in complete agreement in 75% of the cases; as regards location they differed in 20% and malignancy being unsuspected in 5% of the cases, where vascular diseases were the most frequent clinical findings. Lymphomas and leukemias were overrepresented in the study and had a high confirmation and detection rate, 97% resp. 94%. Tumours of the liver, gallbladder and pancreas were underrepresented and had a low detection rate, 37%, and confirmation rate, 59%. For other tumours the confirmation rate was higher, 84-97%, and detection rate lower, 72-80%. Similar antemortem and postmortem diagnoses were seen most commonly in young patients, regardless of sex and who stayed in the hospital for an extended period of time.