Human autopsy: A review of its evolution, current trend and benefits

The term autopsy also known as post-mortem examination or necropsy is the dissection and examination of the body after death to discover the cause of death or the extent of disease. In other words, autopsy implies to a thorough clinicopathologic examination of the deceased body not just to find the cause of death but also to evaluate the pathologies of the events that leads to death. The main objective of such investigation is to ascertain a verdict whether the death was due to a natural, accidental, suicidal or homicidal cause. There are different types of autopsies, with forensic or medico-legal and clinical or hospital as the most common types. In Nigeria, medico-legal autopsy dates back to 1917. This study was carried out to review the evolution of autopsy over time, the current trend and the benefits of this clinicopathologic procedure, thereby providing an insight into this very important but yet often neglected clinical and forensic technique. Different search engines were used in obtaining the literature such as; Google, Google Scholar, PUBMED, ResearchGate and some pathology textbooks. The history of autopsy is connected with that of anatomy and medicine in general, which dates back to about 4000 BCE. Post-mortem examination is the gold standard to ascertain the cause of death, more especially in settings with suspicious, obscure, sudden, unnatural, litigious or criminal deaths.