Diagnostic Utility Of Postmortem Fine-needle Aspiration Cultures.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Microbiological cultures at autopsy have not proved to be very useful. In life, transthoracic and fine-needle aspirations of other tissues have provided better results. The aim of this prospective study was to assess the diagnostic utility of postmortem cultures obtained by fine-needle aspiration puncture (FNAP) of several tissues when punctures were performed in the immediate postmortem period.
METHODS: Comparative analysis was performed between FNAP cultures and those obtained in life and by conventional autopsy. All adult autopsied patients who died at a general teaching hospital in a 3-year period were included. Clinical data, microbiological cultures before death, and pathologic data from autopsies of all patients were recorded, as were results of FNAP performed after death from the heart, right lower lung, liver, spleen, and other areas suspicious for infection. Cultures from the same sites were made at autopsy. Microorganisms were isolated and defined as infectious agents, colonizers, or contaminants according to standard criteria.