Background: Autopsy is an essential auditing tool in clinical practice. ObjectiveS: The study set out to review all autopsies that were performed over a four-year period in order to determine the rate, indications, as well as the age and sex distribution of dead bodies, which autopsies were performed on them in the Hospital. Setting and Design: This was a retrospective study that was undertaken at the department of Pathology of the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital (UUTH), Uyo, Nigeria between January 2007 and December 2010. Materials and Methods: All the cases of death that underwent pathological autopsies in the UUTH were reviewed. The autopsy records, clinical case notes, gross and histopathological specimens as well as slides were retrieved and examined. Results: A total of 1679 dead bodies were received at the mortuary of the institution studied during the 4-year period. Autopsies were performed in 78 cases giving a request rate of 4.7%. Coroner's autopsy was commonly performed, and this accounted for 60 (76.9%) cases, while the remaining 18 (23.1%) were clinical autopsies. Autopsies were commonly performed on male bodies more than females (M: F = 2.6:1.0) with the majority having died at their second decade of life. It was observed that the majority (57.7%) of the request for autopsies were from peripheral centers outside the teaching hospital, while the remaining 42.3% cases were drawn from various clinical departments in the teaching hospital. Road traffic accident was the leading indication for coroner's autopsy (51.7%), while gastroenteritis and chronic liver disease were the two most common indications for clinical autopsy, 27.8% and 22.2% respectively. The concordance rate between clinical diagnosis and autopsy diagnosis was found to be 72.2% (13/18 cases). Conclusion: The rate of request for Autopsy at the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital during the period of this study was low, similar to other previous reports.

Background: An audit of autopsies of maternal deaths is important for the establishment of accurate cause of maternal deaths and to determine the contribution of various etiologies responsible in a given community. Aim: To study the causes of maternal deaths as determined by a pathological autopsy. Settings and Design: A retrospective study of all the cases of maternal deaths that underwent a pathological autopsy in a tertiary healthcare center from January 1998 to December 2006. Materials and Methods: The autopsy records with clinical notes were retrieved; gross and histopathology specimens and slides were studied to establish the accurate cause of maternal deaths. The variables like age (years), stay in the hospital, gravidity, trimester of pregnancy and method of delivery were used to classify and analyze the data from the autopsies. The causes of maternal deaths were divided in to direct and indirect; each being classified into subgroups based on the most evident pathology on autopsy. Results: The Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) over a nine-year period (1998-2006) was 827/100000 live births (471 maternal deaths against 56944 live births). An autopsy was performed in 277 cases (58.8%). In the autopsy group, the most common causes of maternal mortality were pre-ecclampsia/ecclampsia (40 of 277, 14.44%) and hemorrhage (32 of 277; 11.55%); However, indirect causes like infectious diseases (27 of 277; 9.75%) and cardiac (27 of 277; 9.75%) disease also contributed to maternal deaths. Conclusion: Indirect causes like rheumatic heart disease and infections like tuberculosis, malaria or leptospirosis and nutritional anemia are still major causes of maternal mortality in developing countries like India. Intensive efforts need to be taken in these areas to reduce the maternal mortality in developing countries like India.

Background: The process of audit standardizes protocols in departments and has long-term benefits. Maternal autopsies though routinely performed, deserve a special attention. Aims: This study was carried out to calculate the maternal mortality ratio (MMR) in a tertiary care hospital and to correlate final cause of death with the clinical diagnosis. An audit of maternal autopsies was carried out to evaluate current practices, identify fallacies and suggest corrective measures to rectify them. Materials and Methods: Eighty-nine autopsies of maternal deaths in the period 2003 to 2007 were studied in detail along with the clinical details. Results: There were 158 maternal deaths and 13940 live births in this five-year period. Maternal mortality rate was found to be very high (1133/ 100000 live births) in our institution with a high number of complicated referral cases (68/89 cases, 76%). Of the 89 autopsies, acute fulminant viral hepatitis was the commonest cause of indirect maternal deaths (37 cases, 41.5%). This was followed by direct causes like pregnancy-induced hypertension (12 cases, 13.4%) and puerperal sepsis (10 cases, 11.2%). Certain fallacies were noted during the audit process. Conclusion: During the audit it was realized that in maternal mortality autopsies, special emphasis should be given to clinicopathologic correlation, microbiological studies, identification of thromboembolic phenomenon and adequate sectioning of relevant organs. We found difficulty in identification of placental bed in the uterus in postpartum autopsies. A systematic approach can help us for better understanding of the pathophysiology of diseases occurring in pregnancy.

Background: Although cardiovascular disease (CVD) is recognized as a leading cause of death in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in western countries, there is hardly any data regarding Indian subjects with SLE. Aims: To determine the incidence of cardiac abnormalities and vascular lesions at autopsy and to assess their contribution to the mortality in patients with SLE Settings and Design: Retrospective retrieval of reports of autopsies performed on 35 patients with SLE over a 11 year period and analysis of 27 cases with cardiac and/or vascular lesions. Materials and Methods: Gross and microscopic features in 27 autopsies were analyzed with special attention to the heart and the vasculature of all organs. Findings were correlated with clinical features and ante-mortem investigations. Their contribution towards mortality was assessed. Results: Valvar lesions were the commonest cardiac lesions noted with non-bacterial thrombotic endocarditis in nine (33.33%), valvar thickening in two (7.41%), Libman-Sacks endocarditis and infective endocarditis in one (3.70%) each. Myocarditis and myocardial scarring were seen in 10 (37.03%) and seven (25.92%) cases, respectively. Fibrinous pericarditis was noted in seven (25.92%). Thromboses/ embolism, vasculitis and severe coronary atherosclerosis were seen in nine (33.33%), five (18.52%) and one (3.70%) subjects, respectively. Renal disease [13, 48.14%] and cardiovascular manifestations [8, 29.62%] were the leading causes of death in our patient population. Conclusion: CVD contributes significantly to the mortality in patients with SLE in India. It is second only to renal disease in this regard

Objective: To investigate the causes and contributory factors of perinatal mortality by verbal autopsy in Maharashtra. Materials and Methods: Rural and urban areas in six districts in Maharashtra were selected by Probability proportional to size sampling. Verbal autopsies for perinatal deaths were conducted using standard tools and by visiting households; cause of death was assigned according to the International Classification of Diseases-10 using a standard algorithm. Statistical analysis was done using the SPSS-11 version software. Results: A total of 83 perinatal deaths (31 stillbirths and 52 early neonatal deaths) were investigated out of which cause of death for perinatal deaths could be assigned in 96.4% deaths. The leading causes of perinatal deaths were prematurity (19.3%) and complications of placenta, cord and membranes (12.9%) among stillbirths, while low birth weight (36%) and prematurity (26%) accounted for early neonatal deaths

A verbal autopsy (VA) questionnaire, which had an open-ended description of the deceased's illness followed by a series of close-ended questions on specific symptoms and signs, was used by three trained field workers to interview relatives of the deceased who had died in a Chandigarh hospital in previous year. The sensitivity and specificity of the cause of death assigned by physician from the verbal autopsy was calculated against the cause of death derived from the hospital records. Of the 262 verbal autopsies, 60% were males and 23% belonged to rural area. Specificity of VA cause of death was high (>95%) for all broad cause groups except cardiovascular (79%) diseases. Sensitivity was highest for injuries (85%) and it was in the range of 60% to 65% for circulatory diseases, neoplasms, and infectious diseases. Sensitivity was low (20% to 40%) for respiratory, digestive and endocrine diseases. Cause specific proportionate mortality for major cause groups by the VA were statistically similar to the causes of deaths derived from the hospital records (p>0.05). Therefore, VA can be used for determining causes of adult deaths.

Background: Information on the leading causes of mortality will continue to rely on verbal autopsy (VA) in developing countries. The accuracy of VA methods in correctly ascertaining the cause for each individual death is crucial in order to have confidence in the data collected through the procedure. Accuracy of the VA procedure is generally established by carrying out validation studies involving a comparison of the underlying cause of death derived from the VA with a reference underlying cause from medical records. Such validation is only possible in cases for which clinical records are available, and this is clearly not the case for most deaths in developing countries. We attempt to verify the accuracy of VA evidence by reviewing the responses to specific symptom questions and other information recorded in verbal autopsy questionnaires that were assigned cerebrovascular conditions (stroke) as causes of death upon physician review in Vietnam. Materials and Methods: A national sample mortality surveillance activity identified deaths and causes of death that had occurred during 2008 in selected communes in 16 provinces distributed across Vietnam. All cases from the northern provinces of Hanoi, Hai Duong, Quang Ninh and Thanh Hoa with ICD codes pertaining to cerebrovascular diseases were identified. A total of 326 VA questionnaires for deaths from cerebrovascular diseases were reviewed and analysed in detail for the presence of symptoms pertaining to stroke. The respondents' narration of the chronological disease history and the hospital diagnosis was also examined with an aim to explore supporting signs for diagnosis and to verify the quality of VA interview. Differences between responses among cases with and without hospital admission were examined using Chi-squared test of statistical significance. Results: Ninty percent of the cases diagnosed as stroke were found to have positive response to the key symptoms; viz., paralysis (in structured question or free text) and history of stroke. For the remaining 10% of cases, stroke was assigned as a cause-of-death based on other suggestive cardiac signs and symptoms such as hypertension, unconsciousness, or headache, etc. Community had different perspectives of "paralysis" and "stroke" which might have affected the diagnosis of stroke in some aspects. Respondents of cases with hospital admission or visit were found to have a better recall of disease symptoms than those without hospital admission. Conclusion: The results of this study suggest the possible utility of VA content analysis method to back up the low coverage of conventional validation studies in developing countries owing to nonavailability of medical records. The understanding of the VA content would also form the basis for improvement in the quality of interviews and collection of data to achieve better quality information in future.

Cardiac function has long been known to be altered in patients with thyrotoxicosis and atrial fibrillation occurs in patients with hyperthyroidism. In addition to its disabling symptoms, atrial fibrillation is a strong risk factor for systemic embolism, especially with regard to cerebral circulation. A right atrial appendage thrombus formation in atrial fibrillation is a rare phenomenon. In this report, we describe a case of a 30-year-old female, who suffered from hyperthyroidism and subsequently developed atrial fibrillation and a right atrial appendage thrombus with infarction of right atrial appendage.