A brief summary of 60 years of autopsies performed at the Department of Pathology at Kansai Medical University is described. The 6,108 autopsy cases performed from 1951 to 2010 were analyzed based on the main pathological diagnoses. The number of autopsies per year gradually increased and peaked at 225 in 1981; then, the annual number of autopsies decreased until reaching its lowest level (45 cases) in 2002. Nearly 60 autopsies per year have been performed in the last decade. The numbers and

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... quencies of stillborn and newborn cases were high in the late 1950s and early '60s and then gradually decreased due to a decrease in respiratory system disorder cases. The most frequent pathological diagnosis throughout the observation period was malignant neoplasms (range, 32-63%; mean, 48%). According to age distribution, in both males and females, a small peak was seen at 0-4 years of age; then, starting from the late teens, the cases increased in parallel to aging and peaked at 65-69 years of age. The male-to-female ratio was 1.9:1. The frequency of autopsy cases marked by multiple primary cancers has increased over the years. For the past 30 years, heart disease cases exceeded cerebrovasculardiseasecases.Era-specificdiseasesincluded:ahighfrequencyoftuberculosiscasesintheearly'50sthat dramaticallydecreasedthereafter;Japaneseencephalitiscasesinthemid-'60s;andacquiredimmunodeficiencysyndrome (AIDS) cases in the late '80s to '90s. And, although rare, deep mycosis as was the main pathological diagnosis (cause of death) has gradually increased since the '60s. Additionally, malignant mesothelioma cases increased in the '90s due to high asbestos consumption in the high economic growth period (mid-'50s to mid-'70s). Changes in autopsy cases at Kansai Medical University during a 60-year period (from 1951 to 2010) are described.