Results
An autopsy is a medical procedure that consists of a thorough examination performed on a body after death, to evaluate disease or injury that may be present and to determine the cause and manner of a person's death. Following the autopsy, it may take several weeks for the results of specialized tests to be completed. For this reason, a final written autopsy report may take weeks to months. The pathologist or deceased person's doctor may speak directly to the family after the dissection portion of the autopsy and again after the final autopsy report is complete.

After performing the autopsy, the pathologist will generally make a statement about the cause and manner of death. Manner of death is defined as natural or unnatural. A natural death means the death occurred as a result of a disease or from the natural effects of old age. Some examples of natural causes include:

Damage to the heart caused by a heart attack or heart failure.
Damage to the brain caused by conditions such as tumors, bleeding, stroke, poorly controlled epilepsy, diabetes, or Alzheimer's disease.
Damage to the lungs caused by a blood clot, bleeding, or pneumonia.
Damage to organs in the abdomen, such as the stomach, spleen, liver, or kidneys.

An unnatural death means the death resulted from an unnatural, unexpected, unusual, or suspicious cause. If an injury caused or contributed to the death, the manner of death is called unnatural. Unnatural manners of death are homicide, suicide, accident, and undetermined. Unnatural deaths generally are investigated under authority of the medical examiner or coroner, and the determination of the manner of death requires a detailed investigation of the circumstances surrounding the death. Some unnatural causes of death include:

Bullet wounds.
An automobile accident or plane crash.
Fire, drowning, or electrocution.
Death resulting from extreme heat or cold.
Poisoning or drug overdose.

What Affects the Test
Several factors can interfere with the autopsy and the results.

Ideally, an autopsy should be done in a timely fashion, generally within several days of death. In some circumstances, such as evaluation for metabolic disease in an unborn baby (fetus) or infant, prompt tissue sampling is important to improve the likelihood of establishing a diagnosis. However, even after a number of days, an autopsy may still provide useful information.

The training and experience of the pathologist may influence the quality of the autopsy. Access to consultant pathologists with training in specialized areas and to other experts, such as toxicologists and geneticists, may be helpful in complicated cases.
For example, neuropathologists have special expertise in the diagnosis of neurological (brain) diseases; pediatric pathologists may have special expertise in diseases of infants or unborn babies. Families may wish to consult their doctor for assistance in finding a competent, experienced pathologist.

Autopsy procedures may differ for each deceased person depending on the medical history of the person, the circumstances surrounding the death, questions the person's doctors and family members would like answered, and the findings at the initial dissection. It is important that the family members and doctors discuss their questions and concerns with the pathologist before the autopsy is performed, so that the autopsy can be individualized and samples can be obtained that may allow performance of specialized tests. Samples may not be retained for specialized tests (such as genetic, toxicology, or paternity testing) unless specific requests are made at the time of the autopsy.

Autopsy is not an accepted procedure for some cultures, ethnic groups, and religions. If autopsy is not required by law because of the circumstances of death, it will not be performed unless the family gives specific permission.