By Daniel Cressey

Despite its value to clinical practice and medical research, use of the autopsy is in decline worldwide, in part as a result of changing attitudes and cost cutting. Researchers met in London last month to discuss how body scans can enhance and possibly one day replace some forms of one of the oldest medical practices.

The issue is of particular interest in the UK, which has one of the highest rates of autopsy in the Western world but where public confidence was severely damaged by a scandal at the Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool, when it emerged a decade ago that organs from children had been removed and stockpiled after autopsies. There is also reluctance among members of some religious groups to consent to the procedure, although consent is not required for autopsies ordered by a coroner. (Click here to continue reading)

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