Abstract
To the Editor: Articles such as that of Kircher et al. (Nov. 14 issue)1 reaffirming the value of the autopsy are important and necessary in helping to maintain the autopsy as an important exercise in the clinical practice of medicine. However, in his attempt to demonstrate the usefulness of the autopsy, Kircher (as did Goldman2 in a previous Journal article) emphasized the relatively small percentage of cases (4 percent) in which a clinical diagnosis may have been missed and treatment altered if the information found at postmortem examination had been known before the death of the patient. In emphasizing these . . .

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