Neonatal autopsy-is it relevant in today's era?

Abstract

Autopsy of infants can provide vital information about the cause of death and contributes to the detection of diagnostic errors, especially in a low- or middle-income country. To observe the clinicopathological agreement in neonatal deaths in neonatal intensive care units (NICU) and comment on the additional information retrieved by autopsy. A retrospective observational study was conducted in the NICU from January 2020 to December 2022. Neonatal deaths were analyzed, and clinical details and autopsy findings were collected. Both clinical and pathological diagnoses were classified according to the Goldman classification. Twenty-two newborn infants were enrolled. The mean gestational age was 33.5 (±4.38) weeks, and the median birth weight was 1510 (1005-2100) g. There was complete concordance between clinical and pathological diagnosis in 11 (50%) cases. Major diagnostic errors occurred in 41% of cases. Respiratory system disorders (lung infections, airway anomalies) accounted for six (54%) cases of missed diagnosis. Our study showed that the diagnosis was revised after autopsy in about one-third of cases, and newer findings were identified in one-fifth of cases.