Abstract

CASCO-JARQUIN, Ana María  and  MITA-ALBAN, Luis Carlos. Estudio de la discrepancia entre diagnóstico de defunción clínicos y los hallazgos de autopsia en el Hospital Calderón Guardia. Acta méd. costarric [online]. 2003, vol.45, n.1, pp.15-19. ISSN 0001-6002.

Clinical death and anatomopathologic diagnosis do not always coincide. Certain age groups (elderly people) carry chronic and complex pathologies of difficult diagnosis and management, that could mean a higher risk of discrepancy. Therefore, the knowledge of the factors involved in such discrepancies is of great importance to establish feedback between the two areas .The aim of this study is to know which are the clinical diagnosis more frequently associated to discrepancy and to know if there is an association or not between discrepancy and specific age groups. Methods: The magnitude of the discrepancy, its relation with age, and the most relevant pathologies were studied retrospectively in a group of 173 autopsies performed in adults in the year 2000. Protocols of autopsies and files of patients were searched. The data was analyzed by the SPSS statistical program. Results: We found 44,8% discrepancy between the clinical diagnosis and autopsy findings. There was an association (P=0,002) and it was directly proportional to age. The pathologies more related to the discrepancies in descending order were: respiratory infections, miocardiopathies, and neoplasms. Conclusions: The frequency of discrepancies, the population and etiopathogenic associations found ,show the need of greater supervision in those areas and specially the need for reassessment of the autopsy procedure.

Keywords : Autopsia; Necropsia; Causas de defunción.