ABSTRACT
In most countries, the hospital autopsy rate has declined markedly in the past 70 years. Nevertheless, the autopsy continues to have an important role in medical education (undergraduate and postgraduate), audit and clinical governance. As has recently been demonstrated in the COVID-19 pandemic, the autopsy has a crucial role in determining the pathologies associated with new diseases, and in monitoring the effects of new treatments. This Chapter considers the nature and scope of the modern hospital autopsy, which will likely now include radiology coupled with limited invasive internal examination.
