The Medico-Legal Autopsy

The term autopsy also referred to as “Post-mortem examination”, “necropsy”, “obduction” and “ autopsia cadaverum” originates from the Latin language and denotes to “open, cut/dissect”. Another origin is from two Greek terms “aut” (self) and “opsie” (to see, to conduct a personal inspection) hence, autopsy refers to the opening/dissection of a cadaver to see for oneself, through observation, the cause of death or the nature of disease contrary to what has been reported by another party. Autopsy practice has been in existence since over 3000 years ago. It was however, not until the Renaissance in Europe that autopsy became standard practice (1,2). The link between clinical syndromes and postmortem findings is credited to the Dutch physician Herman Boerhaave (3).

The autopsy rates are currently on the decline compared to the 19th and 20th centuries when autopsy practice was at its peak and this

In all cases in which the cause of death cannot be determined, a medico-legal autopsy is done. In a nutshell, a medico-legal autopsy serves to help explain a legal question surrounding the death in question e.g. is the manner of death natural, unnatural or undetermined? Was someone else involved? What were the circumstances leading to death? Therefore, in addition to the results and findings of the autopsy, other findings such as those from the crime scene also play big role in helping to determine what really happened.
The medico-legal autopsy report should be as detailed as possible so as not to miss even the slightest of findings, which may later play a big role in determining the case, hence standardized autopsy procedures as well as autopsy protocols have been devised.
The procedures for a medico-legal autopsy according to Brinkmann should always