Publication
Title
Needle autopsy to establish the cause of death in HIV-infected hospitalized adults in Uganda : a comparison to complete autopsy
Author
Abstract
Introduction: Minimal invasive but accurate methods to establish the cause of death in HIV-infected patients are needed. We studied the agreement in cause of death between blind and ultrasound-guided needle autopsy and complete autopsy in HIV-infected patients in Uganda. Methods: We subsequently performed a blind and ultrasound-guided needle autopsy followed by a complete autopsy in HIV-infected adults who died during hospitalization. Two teams of pathologists reviewed the tissue from either the needle autopsies or the complete autopsy and formulated the major diagnoses, that is, diseases directly contributing to death. The primary outcome was concordance in major diagnosis between needle and complete autopsies. Results: We performed 96 blind needle and complete autopsies and 95 ultrasound-guided needle autopsies. Concordance in major diagnosis between blind needle and complete autopsy was 50%. For the main major diagnosis, tuberculosis (TB) concordance was higher (71%; P < 0.01). Blind needle autopsy identified at least 1 major diagnosis in 60% of patients; and in 46%, there was complete concordance for all major diagnoses. The main reason for discordance was sampling error of the lesion. Concordance with the addition of ultrasound guidance was 52% for all major diagnoses and 79% for TB. Major diagnoses were mainly identified in tissue cores from the liver (76%) and the spleen (82%). Discussion: Blind needle autopsy identified half of the major diagnosis. The addition of ultrasound guidance did not significantly improve the performance of needle autopsy. Needle autopsy is a valuable method to confirm causes of death in HIV-infected patients, especially for highly prevalent diseases like TB.
Language
English
Source (journal)
JAIDS. - Philadelphia, Pa
Publication
Philadelphia, Pa : 2014
ISSN
1525-4135
DOI
10.1097/QAI.0000000000000290
Volume/pages
67 :2 (2014) , p. 169-176
ISI
000342055000015
Pubmed ID
25072614
Full text (Publisher's DOI)
UAntwerpen
Faculty/Department
Research group
Project info
Publication type
Subject
Affiliation
Publications with a UAntwerp address
External links
Web of Science
Record
Identifier
Creation 06.11.2014
Last edited 04.03.2024
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