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Open research questions in Autopsy Techniques and Outcomes

28 unresolved questions extracted from the limitations and future-work sections of 685 Autopsy Techniques and Outcomes papers in our library. Each links back to the study that raised it.

What the literature leaves open

  • The ethical use of burn patient images and records after death remains underexplored, particularly in the context of AI training datasets and social media awareness campaigns.

    Data After Death: Post-Mortem Ethics of Burn Patient Records and Images · 2026 · DOI

  • This work aims to introduce an innovative approach (qMRMI/DTI and tractography) to the forensic settings for the study of early postmortem myocardial changes. However, several limitations limit its significance and prevent any immediate translation into routine practice. The study is based on a single porcine heart, acquired ex vivo and under controlled environmental conditions. This reduces variability and facilitates proof of principle, but does not reproduce the complexity of a real postmortem (organ in situ, nonlinear cooling, environmental variability, and decomposition proc- esses). Temporal sampling is limited to only two acquisitions within the first 24 hours, making it impossible to describe the complete trajectory of changes and identify intermediate stages. Furthermore, the absence of cardiac pathologies in the experimental model limits generalizability to forensic settings, where fibrosis, ischemia, or cardiomyopathies can alter baseline parameters and confound interpretation. Finally, reproducibility, inter-operator variability, and op- erational feasibility (time, costs, scanner availability, and expertise) were not assessed. Future studies should include larger sample sizes, denser postmortem intervals, more realistic conditions (intact hearts with blood and/or whole cadavers), and pathology cohorts, ideally with histological and biochemical correlations.

    Early Postmortem Interval Estimation in Forensic Radiology: A Proof-of-Concept Study Using qMRMI and Tractography in a Porcine Heart Model. · 2026 · DOI

  • The study was limited in sample size. Unequal group sizes reduced power for detecting omnibus effects. The high within-group variance of the data, which is common when analyzing biological samples, likely contributed to the non- significant results, especially when small to moderate effect sizes were detected. The rheological changes before 42 h remain unclear as this was the earliest time post-mortem that a sample was investigated. Acknowledgements We gratefully acknowledge the help from Anton Paar Germany GmbH, namely Mr. Arne Kull, for providing the rheom- eter for the time of the mechanical tests. Author contribution Conceptualization: Johann Zwirner, Benjamin Ondruschka, Natalia Kabaliuk; Methodology: All authors; Software: Pavithran Devananthan; Resources: Benjamin Ondruschka; Supervi- sion and administration: Benjamin Ondruschka; Formal analysis and investigation: All authors; Writing - original draft preparation: Johann Zwirner; Writing - review and editing: All authors. Funding Open Access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL. We would like to acknowledge funding from the University of Canterbury Biomolecular Interaction Centre to undertake the experi- mental testing for this study and scholarship for PDe.

    The use of spleen biomechanics in forensic pathology · 2026 · DOI

  • In this study, human spleen samples with a mean PMI of approximately nine days stored at 4 °C were analyzed. The applied method was shown to be temperature sensitive in the animal model [9]. Hence, future investigations should investigate other forensically relevant storage tempera- tures including around 20 °C (room temperature) and 37 °C (body temperature). Moreover, rheometric data should be collected immediately post-mortem to gain “point zero” ref- erence values and establish a baseline for the post-mortem changes.

    The use of spleen biomechanics in forensic pathology · 2026 · DOI

  • Ethics statement A key strength of this study lies in its exploratory approach, which allowed for both breadth and depth in examining bereaved mothers’ views on autopsy after stillbirth. Conducting the study at a major tertiary facility also ensured contextual relevance and provided insight into experiences within a referral-level health system. Several limitations should be considered. The study was conducted in the Greater Accra region, a cosmopolitan area, which may limit the generalizability of the findings, as women in rural settings may hold different perspectives. There is also for selection bias, as some women declined to potential participate or could not be reached. Furthermore, the culturally sensitive nature of stillbirth and postmortem investigations may have influenced participants’ responses, particularly among those still coping with intense emotional distress.

    Attitudes and perspectives of autopsy after a stillbirth: a qualitative study of mothers in Ghana · 2026 · DOI

  • Future research should explore sustainable strategies to reduce financial barriers that limit access to autopsy services in lowresource settings. Studies evaluating the impact of structured provider–parent communication models on autopsy uptake are also warranted. Additionally, feasibility, acceptability, and diagnostic value of minimally invasive autopsy techniques may provide culturally sensitive alternatives that increase acceptance while maintaining clinical utility. assessing the Further inquiry into healthcare provider training models and the development of institutional policies that support high-quality, compassionate bereavement care is also needed to strengthen informed and shared decision-making among bereaved parents. The studies involving humans were approved by Ethical approval was obtained from the University of Ghana, College of Health Science, Ethical and Protocol Review Committee (CHS- Et/ M.3-4.3/2020-2021). Written informed consent/assent was also given by each participant. The participants’ legal guardian provided written informed consent to participate in this study. The studies were conducted in accordance with the local institutional requirements. The participants legislation and provided their written in this study.

    Attitudes and perspectives of autopsy after a stillbirth: a qualitative study of mothers in Ghana · 2026 · DOI

  • Further study of the problem involves elaboration of an original research card, used to assess 3413 forensic tests of corpses in order to identify problematic issue of the prescription of death and to suggest ways to optimize the work of forensic doctors in this direction and to improve further research.

    Assessment of archival forensic examination acts for determination of the prescription of death · 2018 · DOI

  • This review article describes the role of the medicolegal death investigator and medical examiner or coroner (MEC) in the investigations of a sudden unexpected infant death (SUID) beginning with an introduction into the case types that should be investigated and how infant deaths fit into that legal framework.

    Medicolegal Death Investigation of Sudden Unexpected Infant Deaths · 2017 · DOI

  • In conclusion: a) the coordinators lack some knowledge concerning the forensic aspects, filling out process, and components of the prontuary and there is no standardization regarding the filling out process, either in the cases of urgency or scheduled appointments; b) the keeping time of the prontuary is misled by most of the coordinators; and c) a significant number of coordinators are aware of the legal responsibility over all clinical procedures.

    Odontological prontuary in public health: forensic aspects · 2007

  • Deaths occurring outside health facilities, representing 65% of all deaths in Thailand, contribute to the inaccuracy of cause-of-death data because they must be certified by village heads with limited knowledge and expertise in cause-of-death attribution.

    Mortality statistics in Thailand · 2006 · DOI

  • However, its role as a procedural modifier influencing autopsy workflow, technical complexity, and operator cognitive performance has not been systematically investigated.

    Body mass index (BMI) and forensic autopsy: association with procedural duration, technical complexity and operator vigilance · 2026 · DOI

  • Practitioners of forensic anthropology have glossed over this point and have not only failed to explicitly recognize that the heritability of morphoscopic traits remains unknown, but a similarly egregious transgression is the failure to initiate lines of empirical inquiry into this question.

    Letter to the Editor—Moving Beyond a Lost Cause: Forensic Anthropology and Ancestry Estimates in the United States · 2020 · DOI

  • This Note explores the problems in this rising yet underexplored trend in state evidence law, demonstrating the evidentiary, normative, and constitutional problems with living-victim photo statutes.

    I See Dead People: Examining the Admissibility of Living-Victim Photographs in Murder Trials · 2016

  • We explain why the Bayesian method is the correct logical method for analysing forensic scientific evidence, how it works and why ‘mathematical formulae’ can be useful even where firm statistical data is lacking.

    Extending the Confusion About Bayes · 2011 · DOI

  • Finally, this paper also provides the beginnings of a taxonomy of legal fictions, concluding that a more systematic theoretical treatment of legal fictions is warranted to understand their advantages and disadvantages across a variety of legal domains.

    Can We Handle the Truth? Legal Fictions in the Determination of Death · 2010 · DOI

  • This scrutiny is likely the result of the limited research and literature that exists on the topic of equivocal deaths and the techniques used to investigate them.

    Equivocal Death Investigation: Case Study Analyses · 2008 · DOI

  • In forensic settings, the lack of standardization and problems determining the procedure's validity and reliability pose significant issues for the procedure's admissibility under the Daubert standard of evidence.

    Standardizing the Psychological Autopsy: Addressing the Daubert Standard · 2006 · DOI

  • Until today, most of the documentation of forensic relevant medical findings is limited to traditional 2D photography, 2D conventional radiographs, sketches and verbal description.

    VIRTOPSY—Scientific Documentation, Reconstruction and Animation in Forensic: Individual and Real 3D Data Based Geo-Metric Approach Including Optical Body/Object Surface and Radiological CT/MRI Scanning · 2005 · DOI

  • Proper use of the methods described herein allow for PMIs so accurate that the estimate is limited by the ability to obtain correct temperature data at a crime scene rather than sample variability.

    Decomposition Chemistry of Human Remains: A New Methodology for Determining the Postmortem Interval · 2002 · DOI

  • (1966) "Further Studies of a Kindred Having an Aberrant Autosome (13-15) Without Apparent Phenotypic Effect" J.

    A Murderer with 47,XYY and an Additional Autosomal Abnormality · 1969 · DOI

  • The technical name for the condition in the teeth was hypo the exact cause of which could not be determined calcification, without section of the teeth, but would in all probability have been an illness, even of less severity than measles, in infancy, when the crown of the tooth was forming.

    The Murder of Linda Peacock: A Triumph for Forensic Odontology · 1968 · DOI

  • Without the case papers, it is scarcely ever possible to judge the Tightness of the Court's decision and without the indictment it is quite impossible for the lawyer to be sure of the precise charge on which the prisoner was convicted or acquitted.

    Destruction schedules: Quarter sessions', magistrates' courts' and coroners' records · 1965 · DOI

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28 open questions have been extracted from the limitations and future-work passages of 685 Autopsy Techniques and Outcomes papers in our library. Each one below links back to the study that raised it, so you can read the original claim in context.

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