Causes of mortality on a university hospital neurology service.
BACKGROUND
The mortality rate for all patients cared for by inpatient neurology services has not been described.


METHODS
Quality assurance case discussions of all patients (n = 6012) admitted to a neurology service from 1996 to 2003 were reviewed to determine frequency and causes of mortality. All cases of mortality were reviewed in detail.


RESULTS
The majority of patients (98%) survived their admission; 118 patients died. In 95/118 cases, care had been withdrawn at the time of death. In 11 cases, adverse events occurred during the patients' hospital stay and may have impacted outcome. Few patients (18%) had clear advance directives.


CONCLUSIONS
Most mortality in this acute care neurology setting occurs in the course of stroke, epilepsy, or complicated tumor management and is managed through withdrawal of care with family participation.
Jaren
Olav
O
University of Michigan, Department of Neurology, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.
Selwa
Linda
L
D000368:Aged; D002423:Cause of Death; D005260:Female; D006748:Hospital Departments; D017052:Hospital Mortality; D006785:Hospitals, University; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019300:Medical Errors / Q000401:mortality; D008875:Middle Aged; D009462:Neurology; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D028761:Withholding Treatment