Molecular Autopsy Becoming Viable to Implement

Molecular autopsies are becoming technically and financially feasible for cases of sudden death (SD) with inconclusive autopsy results, according to a study published July 19 in Genome Research by the Harris County (Texas) medical examiner’s office. Experts say molecular tools will become the standard of care for medical examiners and coroner’s offices investigating SD in infants, children, and young adults. Heritable genetic variants, including cardiac channel-associated gene variants, are thought to be a cause of up to one-third of SD in young people, but thousands of these cases are assigned an undetermined cause of death due to a lack of definitive autopsy findings. Elucidation of genetic variants responsible for SD can help to establish cause of death and to determine whether familial genetic testing should be considered. However, up until now, postmortem screenings have not been technically or financially viable for most county medical examiners and coroners. “The work presented here highlights a transition between research and specific clinical cases to implementation of the molecular autopsy as a cost-effective standard of care in postmortem examinations,” writes D. Nicole R. Methner, Ph.D., from the Harris County Institute of Forensic Science in Houston. “By targeting selected exons, cost was kept below $600 […]