• Isil Pakis, Mustafa Karapirli, Ferah Karayel, Arzu Turan, Elif Akyildiz, and Oguz Polat.
• Pathologist, Council of Forensic Medicine, Beylikdüzü, Istanbul, Turkey. isilpakis@yahoo.com
• J. Forensic Sci. 2008 Sep 1;53(5):1166-8.

AbstractAn autopsy examination is important in identifying the cause of death and as a means of auditing clinical and forensic practice; however, especially in perinatal and infantile age groups determining the cause of death leads to some difficulties in autopsy practice. In this study, 15,640 autopsies recorded during the years 2000-2004 in the Mortuary Department of the Council of Forensic Medicine were reviewed. Autopsy findings of 510 cases between 20 completed weeks of gestation and 1 year of age were analyzed retrospectively. The quality of each necropsy report was assessed using a modification of the system gestational age assessment described by Rushton, which objectively scores aspects identified by the Royal College of Pathologists as being part of a necropsy. According to their ages, the cases were subdivided into three groups. Intrauterine deaths were 31% (158 cases), neonatal deaths were 24% (123 cases), and infantile deaths were 45% (229 cases) of all cases. Scores for the quality of the necropsy report were above the minimum acceptable score with 44% in intrauterine, 88% in neonatal and infantile deaths.

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