Examination of the cause of death determined after autopsy with the cause of death determined based on the clinical file

Background and Objectives: Determining the cause of death is one of the most important diagnosis issued by doctors and lack of enough precision and failure to observe scientific principles can lead to serious legal problems for doctors. Lack of attention to the possibility of apparent death in the diagnosis of death, in addition to causing delay in CPR proceedings, can lead to victims family’s complains from doctors and make them face serious problems. This study can examine the cause of death determined after autopsy in dissection hall of Tehran Legal Medicine with the cause of death determined in treatment centers in 2012. Analysis method: A cross-sectional study was designed where data collection tools consisted of two parts: first part consisted of clinical information available in 4641 death files referred from health centers to the center of Tehran Legal Medicine as well as the cause of death based on the results of statistical program were provided. Findings: The highest percentage of non-identical cause of death is related to internal specialists with 47% and the lowest percentage of non-identical cause of death is related to neurosurgery specialists with 2%. Conclusion: The causes of death were different in many ways, based on the results it is suggest that a process be designed according to statistic of significantly incorrect diagnosis so that doctors can be informed of the results of autopsy and determination of final cause of death of their patients in order to have more accurate clinical diagnosis in case of facing with similar patients.