Could We Consider Ultrasound-Guided Minimally Invasive Autopsy as a Part of POCUS?

Abstract

We present a 3-patient case series that support the use of ultrasound guided minimally invasive autopsy (MIA). This technique has a high diagnostic accuracy in specific clinical settings. It makes easier to diagnose pathologies once the patient has died, avoiding body deformation, with a notable reduction in sample processing time compared to the open autopsy study and, therefore, a shorter overall diagnostic response time. MIA shows some similarities with point of care ultrasound (POCUS), like examination protocols or that they can be performed at the bedside.

Keywords: minimally invasive autopsy; point of care ultrasound; pulmonary infiltrates.