The examination of the body after death to determine the cause of death is called what?

• A. Biopsy
• B. Autopsy
• C. Postmortem
• D. Necropsy

Answer: (B)

Examining a body after death to determine the cause of death is called an autopsy. This is the standard medical term for the postmortem evaluation that can reveal how death occurred, whether disease processes contributed, and what exactly happened in the final hours. A biopsy, by contrast, involves taking a small tissue sample from a living patient to diagnose disease, not conducting a full body examination after death. The term postmortem describes anything occurring after death and can refer to the examination or its report, but the precise procedure name is autopsy. Necropsy is more commonly used in veterinary medicine and is less typical for humans, where autopsy is the preferred term.