What is an autopsy?

An autopsy is a medical procedure that is carried out on a deceased person in order to discover a range of information regarding the death.  An autopsy seeks to discover the following information:

• The identity of the deceased person.
• When they died, the nature and extent of any disease they currently suffer from, or have suffered in the past.
• The nature and extent of any injury they are suffering from or have suffered in the past.
• The cause of their death.
• The circumstances that surround how they died.
• Information on natural disease or injury that has the capacity to prevent the death of another member of the community in related circumstances.

An autopsy can be considered a public health procedure.  It can inform treating medical practitioners about the effects of medical treatment that have been provided in the recent past, and in forensic cases, can assist Police and justice agencies in assembling the evidence required for criminal proceedings.  Given the value of the autopsy for public health and the administration of justice, it is essential that the results of an autopsy are recorded in very considerable detail.  This is usually done by the pathologists preparing an autopsy report which is a written description of the autopsy findings and includes the pathologists comments regarding the autopsy findings and the medical cause of death as determined by the pathologist.  In forensic cases this medical cause of death is usually adopted by the Coroner.  However, a Coroner can amend a pathologist's cause of death on the basis of further evidence available to a Coroner which may not have been available to the pathologist at the time of conducting the autopsy.

	Autopsy process		Description of the major procedures of the autopsy process
	Tissue retention		The retention of tissue during the autopsy process is described including family consulation for organ retention