Having not changed in recent history, the human body continues to lend itself well to the autopsy procedure and the documentation and interpretation of postmortem morphologic, cellular, and chemical changes. Autopsy findings in conjunction with those of other scientific methods and investigative techniques remain as valuable today as they were centuries ago, both in daily practice and for scientific endeavor. Although the rate of our learning through the autopsy may have slowed, the quality of information remains high. The values and uses of the autopsy are limited mainly by our lack of imagination or our passive or active unwillingness to find facts in pursuit of scientific truth. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation or DNR for the autopsy? Do not resuscitate status is reserved for those situations in which hope has been lost and the chance for meaningful survival seems over. The autopsy meets neither criterion; CPR, therefore, seems indicated. Successful CPR for the autopsy will require the effort of pathologists, clinicians, institutions, and payers. It is our ethical, scientific, and medical obligation to revive the autopsy to an appropriate level of utilization. Let the CPR begin! Breathing life into the autopsy will also revitalize the practice of medicine.
