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The aim of this study was to compare in-hospital deaths in different hospital settings between 1850 and 2000 in Vienna. We reviewed 120 autopsy records for each of the selected years from the Clinical Institute of Pathology of the Medical University Vienna and two community hospitals. In 2000 the autopsy rate was 37.5 % at the community hospitals and 52.5 % at the university hospital. The mean age of those being dissected was significantly lower compared with those not being dissected in the community hospital. Infections were the leading cause of death during the nineteenth and early twentieth century, after 1950 the rate of cardiovascular diseases and cancer increased. In the year 2000 the majority of patients with an underlying malignant disease died because of cardiovascular disease. Causes of death vary between institutions. They should be reported as accurately as possible in order to create a cogent basis for central mortality statistics.

The authors analysed the unpublished medical documentation from the depositories of the Russian State Historical Archive (RSHA) containing materials that shed light on the circumstances around the death of Emperor Nikolas I of Russia. They put forward arguments in support of the proposition that the Emperor died from post-influenza pneumonia and dismiss the popular view that he was poisoned. The previously unpublished protocols of Nikolas' body postmortem examination and embalming are presented.

This article argues that death from insanity raised serious questions for the medical profession and for those who promoted the public asylum movement in the nineteenth century. While the medical emphasis on the somatic origins of insanity was increasingly accepted, limited observable signs of disease in the brain at post-mortem made it difficult to explain cause of death. This posed problems for a growing county asylum movement which was justified on the basis that insanity was a treatable disease and thus mortality rates would naturally decline. As asylum populations continued to grow and mortality rates remained little changed, statistics on lunacy ultimately became not the predicted measure of success but instead clear evidence of failure.

Objectives: Infant mortality has undergone a dramatic reduction in the UK over the past century because of improvements in public health policy and medical advances. Postmortem examinations have been performed at Great Ormond Street Hospital for over 100 years, and analysis of cases across this period has been performed to assess changing patterns of infant deaths undergoing autopsy., Design: Autopsy reports from 1909 and 2009 were examined. Age, major pathology and cause of death was reviewed from these cases and entered into an anonymized database. A subsequent comparative analysis was performed., Setting: All postmortems performed and reported at Great Ormond Street Hospital in 1909 and 2009., Participants: Infant deaths, aged 0-365 days, were identified and subsequently analysed for the two years., Main Outcome Measures: Comparative proportional analysis of postmortem findings from the two time periods., Results: Three-hundred and fifty-seven and 347 autopsy reports were identified from 1909 and 2009 including 178 and 128 infant deaths, respectively. The commonest cause of death in 1909 was infection (74%) compared to 20% of deaths in 2009. The most frequent final 'diagnosis' in 2009 was 'unexplained sudden unexpected infant death (SUDI)', despite a full postmortem including ancillary investigations. In contrast, there were no such cases recorded in 1909, but there were frequent deaths due to gastroenteritis and malnutrition together accounting for 16% of cases, compared to one case of gastroenteritis in 2009. Fifteen percent of 1909 cases had infections which are almost never fatal with appropriate treatment in 2009, including tuberculosis, diphtheria and syphilis. Congenital anomalies were detected with similar frequencies at both time points, (21% and 19% in 1909 and 2009, respectively)., Conclusion: In the UK, significant changes in patterns of pathology have occurred in paediatric autopsy cases performed at a single specialist centre. Fatal infections and malnutrition (both poverty-related) have reduced yet the incidence of congenital anomalies has remained similar.

Every death is unique, but deaths also share similar features that allow them to be grouped into categories. Since its initial description over 800 years ago, the position of coroner has been charged with the determination of manner of death. This determination has been made by examination into the circumstances surrounding death and of wounds on the surface of the body. Over the years, physicians have gained sufficient understanding of the body such that the autopsy became an important part of a death investigation. With additional time, laws were changed so that individuals charged with the determination of manner of death were required to have appropriate training. Death certification is the means by which deaths are grouped together according to similar characteristics. The practice of death certification has led to effective public health programs and the advancement of medical science. The addition of manner of death to the death certificate is an American contribution to vital statistics registration. The purpose of the autopsy report differs from that of the death certificate; the report fully addresses the unique aspects of a death, while the certificate captures the essence of the circumstances surrounding death in a few words.