[Consequences of autopsies for the living : Causes of death in the clinical diagnosis "septic and toxic shock"].

Background: There is reason to believe that the diagnosis of septic and toxic shock, as indicated on the death certificate, cannot be confirmed as the cause of death without autopsy and subsequent histological analysis. The external examination of the corpse can therefore not represent the sole basis for a reliable statement about the infection status of a corpse, e. g.