Autopsy and clinical diagnosis

In 1096 cases of death (autopsy rate 63.8%) the accuracy of clinical diagnoses was investigated by comparing clinical diagnoses with recorded autopsy findings. -- In 81.3% of the cases the primary disease had been determined correctly. In more than half of these cases the immediate cause of death or an additional disease contributing to death had not been correctly identified. In 16% of the cases the diagnosis proved to be inadequate. -- In 2.6% of all cases the primary disease, cause of death and accompanying illnesses were misdiagnosed. Most of these patients had stayed in the hospital for a much shorter time than the rest of the patients. -- Among conditions clinically diagnosed as cirrhosis of the liver, pulmonary embolism, myocardial infarction, cerebral hemorrhage, and malignant tumors -- pulmonary embolism was by far the most frequent condition to go unrecognized, i.e. in 50% of th cases in which it was present. Primary liver cell carcinoma proved to be the malignant tumor most frequently not identified by clinical studies. -- Four clinical diagnoses (shock, septicemia, diabetes mellitus and uremia) were often unsupported by morphological findings. Yet there were 13 clinically undiagnosed cases of septicemia in which findings at post mortem examination revealed this condition. These cases also underline the importance of autopsies.