autopsy
Enable an agent to recognise an autopsy episode, assess its authority, examination coverage and evidential limits, and determine appropriate next actions.
Research draft, second pass
A second pass drafted this model: the structure a model of this thing needs, and what is known about it in the world. The line under this one says how the second half was obtained - researched against sources, or recalled without web access, in which case nothing here was read anywhere and every claim is a lead to verify. Unreviewed either way.
recalled by Codex without web access - no source was read
Researched by: Codex
Purpose and description
Enable an agent to recognise an autopsy episode, assess its authority, examination coverage and evidential limits, and determine appropriate next actions.
An autopsy is a systematic postmortem examination of a body, usually including internal dissection, undertaken to investigate the cause of death, characterize disease or injury, or answer clinical, forensic, or research questions.
It can be Check whether a proposed examination or sample-retention action falls within documented authority and restrictions.; Identify unanswered investigative questions and gaps in examination coverage for professional review.; Trace an observation or laboratory result to the body region, specimen and examination episode that produced it.; Compare proposed explanations of death against supporting observations, contrary evidence and examination limits.; Flag pending analyses or unresolved discrepancies before report finalisation.; Track authorised release of the body and the separate disposition of retained material..
Distinguishing features
The subject is a deceased body examined to answer questions about disease, injury or death, rather than a living patient receiving diagnostic care.
The episode documents examination of the body itself; witness interviews or record review alone belong to neighbouring death-investigation methods.
The examination has investigative or diagnostic objectives, distinguishing it from body preparation and dissection performed solely for teaching.
An autopsy produces observations and an interpretation with stated limits; it is distinct from the certificate or legal decision that may use those conclusions.
The designation of imaging-only or minimally invasive examination as an autopsy must be attributed to the applicable practice or authority rather than assumed.
Scope
+ The examination episode, its objectives and its clinical or medicolegal context
+ Authority to examine the body and restrictions on examination, sampling and retention
+ Body identification, condition and continuity of custody
+ External and internal examination coverage and associated diagnostic investigations
+ Interpretation, reporting, unresolved findings and completion obligations
- Animal necropsy as a veterinary examination
- Death-scene investigation and the wider criminal investigation
- Death certification, civil registration and legal determinations as separate acts
- Treatment delivered before death and assessment of professional liability
- Embalming, funeral arrangements and anatomical teaching dissection
- Verbal autopsy and figurative organisational postmortems
Characteristics
- Examination context
- Clinical; medicolegal; other explicitly identified context The context determines the questions being addressed and which authority and reporting arrangements must be established.
- Authority and permitted scope
- Links to the applicable authorisation, responsible authority and documented restrictions An agent must establish which examination, sampling and retention actions are permitted.
- Identification status
- Unidentified; provisional; confirmed under a stated method; disputed Identity uncertainty affects attribution of observations, samples and reports.
- Examination extent
- Documented body regions and methods, with examined, omitted and unavailable components A label such as complete or limited is insufficient to establish what was actually assessed.
- Postmortem interval estimate
- Hours or days, expressed as a range with estimation basis and uncertainty; unknown where unsupported Elapsed time and its uncertainty help contextualise preservation and interpretation.
- Body preservation and alteration
- Documented decomposition, preservation, trauma, treatment-related changes and other alterations Changes before examination may obscure findings or create alternative explanations.
- Ancillary investigation status
- Not indicated; requested; collected; pending; resulted; unavailable; inconclusive, per investigation Pending or unavailable analyses can limit conclusions and report finalisation.
- Conclusion status
- Deferred; provisional; final; amended, with separate uncertainty for each conclusion Administrative finality must not be mistaken for diagnostic certainty.
Also called
Where this came from
wikidata · CC0 1.0
Drafted structure
Bundle to layer to finding to question, as the second pass will find it: 6 bundles · 11 layers · 18 findings · 28 questions.
Autopsy remit and authority Establishes why this body is being examined and what actions are authorised.
Clinical requests and medicolegal mandates cannot be treated as interchangeable sources of authority.
Death investigation remit
Identifies the examination context and the questions assigned to the autopsy.
Assigned autopsy questions
Records the questions the examination is expected to address and who requested them.
- Is this a clinical or medicolegal autopsy, and which questions about disease, injury or death define its remit? definition
- Who requested the examination, and which referral records establish its objectives? provenance
Examination permissions
Separates authority for examination from permissions governing sampling, retention and subsequent use.
Authorised interventions and limits
Records applicable authority, restrictions and unresolved permissions without presuming a universal consent rule.
- Which documented authority permits examination of this body, and what limits apply to dissection, sampling and retention? provenance
- Does a proposed additional examination or use of retained material require further authorisation under the applicable rules? action
Body identity and condition Establishes which body was received and what happened to it before examination.
Misidentification, custody gaps and postmortem changes can undermine attribution and interpretation of autopsy findings.
Identity and body continuity
Tracks identification evidence and continuity between receipt, examination and release.
Identity attribution
Records the basis and status of identity and any discrepancy in body identifiers or transfers.
- Which identification evidence connects the examined body to the named deceased or unidentified-person case? provenance
- Are there identifier discrepancies or undocumented transfers that require resolution before findings are attributed? action
Postmortem and treatment changes
Captures alterations that affect what can be observed and inferred.
Interpretability of body condition
Documents preservation, elapsed-time uncertainty and changes associated with handling or treatment.
- What is known about time since death, storage and preservation, and how uncertain is that information? measurement
- Which observations may reflect decomposition, resuscitation, surgery or handling rather than the process that caused death? boundary
Examination and sampling coverage Records the body regions, examination methods and specimens that support the autopsy.
Conclusions must be bounded by what was actually examined and by the suitability of collected material.
Anatomical examination
Distinguishes intended coverage from completed external, internal and imaging examinations.
Observed and unexamined regions
Associates observations and explicit negative findings with documented examination coverage.
- Which body regions were examined by which methods, and which were omitted or inaccessible? measurement
- Which proposed conclusions are limited by an omitted region, restricted dissection or unavailable examination method? boundary
Specimens and ancillary analysis
Connects collected material to histology, toxicology and other investigations relevant to the case.
Specimen and result traceability
Records specimen origin, handling, analytical status and limitations affecting interpretation.
- Can each ancillary result be traced to a specified specimen, collection site, collection time and handling record? provenance
- Which indicated analyses are pending, unavailable or limited by specimen condition, and what questions remain unanswered as a result? boundary
Death explanation and uncertainty Connects observations and contextual evidence to defensible conclusions about death.
An abnormality may be causal, contributory or incidental, and the autopsy may leave competing explanations unresolved.
Causal interpretation
Separates recorded observations from interpretations of their role in death.
Causal, contributory and incidental findings
Records the proposed role of each material finding and the reasoning supporting that role.
- Which findings support the proposed cause or causal sequence of death, and which are considered contributory or incidental? definition
- What supports or contradicts that interpretation, including relevant clinical history and scene information? provenance
Conclusion boundaries
Makes uncertainty and the division of responsibility for death classifications explicit.
Unresolved explanations and classification
Distinguishes anatomical conclusions from broader determinations that may require external evidence or authority.
- Which alternative explanations remain viable, and what evidence could discriminate between them? action
- Which conclusions about cause, mechanism or manner of death are supported here, and which require additional evidence or determination by another authority? boundary
Autopsy report and disposition Tracks the report lifecycle and completion obligations for the body and retained material.
The examination, final report, body release and specimen disposition can reach completion at different times.
Report finalisation
Records responsibility, evidential dependencies and revisions of the autopsy report.
Report status and amendments
Identifies the accountable author, current conclusions and changes prompted by later evidence.
- Who is responsible for the report, and is its current status provisional, final or amended? provenance
- Do pending results or newly received evidence require deferring finalisation or issuing an amendment? action
Body and retained material disposition
Tracks release and retention decisions under the authority applicable to the case.
Release and retention obligations
Separately records the status of the body, retained organs, tissue and other specimens.
- Which body parts or specimens remain retained, for what documented purpose and under whose authority? provenance
- What unresolved requirements govern release of the body and return, continued retention or disposal of retained material? action
Evidence and external alignment What the world already says about this thing, gathered so the model can be checked against it.
A model that cannot be lined up against existing standards, identifiers and practice cannot be adopted by anyone who already uses them.
Reported evidence
Findings from the breadth pass, kept separate from the structural claims.
Check these first
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- The intended sense is the examination procedure, primarily in humans, rather than its report or a metaphorical review.
- The listed kinds overlap: purpose, extent, and technique are separate classification dimensions.
- Standards are named from recall; their current editions, jurisdictional applicability, and the boundary between autopsy and imaging-only examination require verification.
- Which of these check these first hold for the sense of autopsy this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Kinds and varieties
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Clinical or hospital autopsy
- Medicolegal or forensic autopsy
- Complete autopsy
- Limited or organ-restricted autopsy
- Minimally invasive autopsy
- Imaging-based postmortem examination, sometimes termed virtual autopsy
- Which of these kinds and varieties hold for the sense of autopsy this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Standards and regulation
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Forensic Autopsy Performance Standards issued by the National Association of Medical Examiners.
- Guidelines on autopsy practice issued by the Royal College of Pathologists.
- Which of these standards and regulation hold for the sense of autopsy this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Real-world use
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Investigating the cause of death and contributing evidence to the determination of its manner.
- Comparing clinical diagnoses with postmortem findings to assess diagnostic accuracy.
- Documenting injuries and collecting specimens or other evidence in death investigations.
- Identifying inherited or infectious conditions that may have implications for relatives or public health.
- Supporting medical education and research into disease.
- Which of these real-world use hold for the sense of autopsy this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Typical measurements
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Organ mass - Depends on the organ, age, body size, and disease state; no single general range applies. - g
- Dimensions of lesions and injuries - Depends on the finding; no universal typical range applies. - mm or cm
- Which of these typical measurements hold for the sense of autopsy this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Failure modes and hazards
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Decomposition, treatment effects, and postmortem artifacts can obscure or mimic disease and injury.
- Incomplete examination or inadequate sampling can miss relevant findings.
- Contamination, specimen misidentification, or failures in evidence custody can compromise results.
- Personnel may encounter infectious agents, sharps injuries, and hazardous chemicals.
- Overinterpretation can produce unwarranted certainty about cause, manner, or timing of death; some deaths remain unexplained after examination.
- Which of these failure modes and hazards hold for the sense of autopsy this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Regional variation
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Medicolegal examinations operate within different coroner, medical examiner, judicial, or other statutory systems.
- Consent requirements, authority to order an examination, and rules governing tissue retention vary by jurisdiction and examination purpose.
- Religious and cultural practices influence acceptability and requests for limited, minimally invasive, or imaging-based examinations.
- Which of these regional variation hold for the sense of autopsy this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Postmortem examination - A broader term that can include an external examination alone; autopsy usually implies a more extensive examination, commonly with internal dissection.
- Necropsy - Often denotes the equivalent examination in nonhuman animals, although usage overlaps with autopsy.
- Death investigation - Includes scene evidence, circumstances, records, and witness information; an autopsy is one possible component.
- Verbal autopsy - Infers a probable cause of death from structured interviews about symptoms and circumstances, without examining the body.
- Biopsy - Examines tissue sampled from a living person, whereas an autopsy examines the body after death.
- Which of these neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart hold for the sense of autopsy this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
What the second pass must settle
- Does the registry intend autopsy to cover only human examinations, or also animal examinations commonly modelled as necropsy?
- Which professional and jurisdictional definitions include external-only, imaging-only or minimally invasive examinations within autopsy?
- Which existing Vercy models own death investigation, specimen custody and death certification, and where should this model link to them?
- Which jurisdiction-specific rules govern examination authority, retention, report access and responsibility for determining manner of death?
- Which professional standards should establish examination adequacy for different case types and the vocabulary used to express diagnostic uncertainty?