Perinatal Autopsy: A Study from India

The objective of present study are to describe and analyze data of all perinatal deaths and determine how often the perinatal autopsy identify the cause of death even though there is steady decline of perinatal autopsy rate worldwide and compare accuracy of ante mortem diagnosis(USG) with that of autopsy findings. It was a prospective study performed in India where 70 perinatal autopsies performed. Results show congenital malformation, 70%, is the major cause of death & neural tube defect, 92% is on the top. Autopsy and ultrasound findings were same in 63% cases, where as ultrasound diagnoses were found wrong in11.43% cases. Autopsy successfully identified the cause of death in each and every case(100%). This study shows that perinatal autopsy is the gold standard to detect the cause of perinatal death. In a country like India where perinatal death rate is still high but perinatal autopsy rate should be improved as perinatal autopsy can reveal a specific disorder for which precise strategies for prevention can be formulated.