ArticlePloS one2019
Hospital implementation of minimally invasive autopsy: A prospective cohort study of clinical performance and costs.
Article in PloS one, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers.
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Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed.
- Diagnostic accuracy of unenhanced post-mortem CT and MRI compared to the non-forensic clinical autopsy: a prospective blinded study.Virchows Archiv : an international journal of pathology · 2026Article
- Diagnostic performance of minimally invasive autopsy in a respiratory ICU: A retrospective analysis.Lung India : official organ of Indian Chest Society · 2026Article
- The acceptability of minimally invasive tissue sampling for cause of death determination in rural South Africa: A qualitative analysis.PloS one · 2026Article
- Diagnostic accuracy of a simplified minimally invasive tissue sampling protocol for stillbirths in low-resource settings.BMJ global health · 2025Article
- Videoautopsy-A Minimally Invasive Autopsy Method Using Endoscopic Techniques in Forensic Medicine: Clinical Features.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Minimally invasive autopsy - endoscopic approach to post-mortem diagnostics.Wideochirurgia i inne techniki maloinwazyjne = Videosurgery and other miniinvasive techniques · 2024Review
- Minimally invasive autopsies for the investigation of pulmonary pathology of COVID-19-experiences of a longitudinal series of 92 patients.Virchows Archiv : an international journal of pathology · 2023Article
- Application of postmortem imaging modalities in cases of sudden death due to cardiovascular diseases-current achievements and limitations from a pathology perspective : Endorsed by the Association for European Cardiovascular Pathology and by the International Society of Forensic Radiology and Imaging.Virchows Archiv : an international journal of pathology · 2023Article
- Post-mortem Imaging of Brain/Spine Injuries: The Importance of a Comprehensive Forensic Approach.Acta neurochirurgica. Supplement · 2023Article
- Medical Autopsy for Sudden Unexplained Death in Saudi Arabia: A Call to Action.Journal of the Saudi Heart Association · 2022Review
- Cost Evaluation of Minimally Invasive Tissue Sampling (MITS) Implementation in Low- and Middle-Income Countries.Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2021Article
- Postmortem Chest Computed Tomography in Fatal COVID-19: A Valuable Diagnostic Tool for Minimally Invasive Autopsy.Clinics (Sao Paulo, Brazil) · 2021Article
- Post-mortem routine practice in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic.Journal of forensic and legal medicine · 2020Article
- Pulmonary and systemic involvement in COVID-19 patients assessed with ultrasound-guided minimally invasive autopsy.Histopathology · 2020Article
- Effect of minimally invasive autopsy and ethnic background on acceptance of clinical postmortem investigation in adults.PloS one · 2020Article
- Ancillary and Advanced Techniques for the Postmortem Examination.Pediatric and developmental pathology : the official journal of the Society for Pediatric Pathology and the Paediatric Pathology SocietyReview
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesAutopsy rates worldwide have dropped significantly over the last decades and imaging-based autopsies are increasingly used as an alternative to conventional autopsy. Our aim was to evaluate the clinical performance and cost of minimally invasive autopsy.
methodsThis study was part of a prospective cohort study evaluating a newly implemented minimally invasive autopsy consisting of MRI, CT, and biopsies. We calculated diagnostic yield and clinical utility-defined as the percentage successfully answered clinical questions-of minimally invasive autopsy. We performed minimally invasive autopsy in 46 deceased (30 men, 16 women; mean age 62.9±17.5, min-max: 18-91).
resultsNinety-six major diagnoses were found with the minimally invasive autopsy of which 47/96 (49.0%) were new diagnoses. CT found 65/96 (67.7%) major diagnoses and MRI found 82/96 (85.4%) major diagnoses. Eighty-four clinical questions were asked in all cases. Seventy-one (84.5%) of these questions could be answered with minimally invasive autopsy. CT successfully answered 34/84 (40.5%) clinical questions; in 23/84 (27.4%) without the need for biopsies, and in 11/84 (13.0%) a biopsy was required. MRI successfully answered 60/84 (71.4%) clinical questions, in 27/84 (32.1%) without the need for biopsies, and in 33/84 (39.8%) a biopsy was required. The mean cost of a minimally invasive autopsy was €1296 including brain biopsies and €1087 without brain biopsies. Mean cost of CT was €187 and of MRI €284.
conclusionsA minimally invasive autopsy, consisting of CT, MRI and CT-guided biopsies, performs well in answering clinical questions and detecting major diagnoses. However, the diagnostic yield and clinical utility were quite low for postmortem CT and MRI as standalone modalities.
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