[The significance of the clinical autopsy from the viewpoint of the pathologist].

Selected examples are cited to show that, even today, autopsy can provide the clinician with essential information. The most important task of clinical autopsy is analysis of the individual case and correlation between clinical and autopsy findings. The discrepancies that may arise here are illustrated by cases of endocarditis. Spontaneous or therapeutic alterations of disease forms can only be established by autopsy, as is exemplified by indigenous systemic mycoses. The part autopsy can play in the analysis of new disease entities is illustrated in the case of analgesic nephropathy. From this it emerges that autopsy serves not only to establich terminal states but also the early stages. The example of malignant tumors which eluded clinical diagnosis is cited to demonstrate the value of autopsy statistics. In conclusion, an appeal is made for more intensive cooperation between clinician and pathologist and wider use of modern methods in the evaluation of autopsies.