Pathologists and the autopsy.

Autopsy practice today remains rooted in the fabric of medicine as it developed through the 18th and 19th centuries. Recent developments in medicine and society have left autopsy practice behind and have led to the decline of the autopsy. Potential new values of autopsies point strongly to the need for revitalized modern autopsy services, services focused on objectives and problems related to patients, their physicians, and the attendant societal issues. There are real values for pathology and pathologists, but only if major realignments in purposes and outcomes are forthcoming.