About

The Autopsy Pathology Division performs approximately 400 autopsies a year to determine the cause of death, confirm clinical diagnoses, evaluate the effects of therapy, and study disease processes. In addition to examining consented patients who die within Johns Hopkins hospitals, we occasionally perform private autopsies at the request of family members, physicians, or researchers. Johns Hopkins also has a program for research autopsy called The Research Autopsy Program.

The Autopsy Service has performed more than 56,000 autopsies since it was established in 1889. Our service provides education for clinicians and comfort for families seeking to establish or confirm cause of death and to resolve questions about treatment or extent of disease.

Autopsies are performed by house officers and autopsy assistants under close supervision of pathologists' assistants and attending physicians. For unusual or complex cases, the expertise and resources of Johns Hopkins are available to us for specialized consultation.

We maintain records and slides of every autopsy performed by the service, which are available to investigators for review. During the more than 100 years since the service began, this information has been used in hundreds of studies, especially those related to the investigation of the development of disease.