Pattern of the cause of death in adult males - a perspective on autopsy.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the causes of death on autopsy in adult male patients in order to provide a baseline data for health care policy makers.


METHODS
An observational study.


METHODS
Pathology Departments of Army Medical College, Rawalpindi and Combined Military Hospital, Kharian, a tertiary care hospital, between 1982-2001.


METHODS
Data was taken from the autopsy record of the pathology departments and analysed for the causes of death.


RESULTS
A total of 626 autopsies performed between 1982-2001 were analysed. Infectious diseases, malignancies and miscellaneous conditions comprised 209, 67 and 350 cases respectively. Infections included tuberculosis (n=62), typhoid fever (n=15), bacterial infections not otherwise specified (NOS) (n=52), parasitic diseases including malaria (n=6), fungal infections (n=12), viral infections (n=13) and infections NOS (n=49). Malignancies included lymphoreticular malignancies, leukemias, astrocytoma, carcinoma lung, liver, pancreas, stomach, gallbladder, renal and metastatic carcinomas. The miscellaneous diseases included accidental/traumatic conditions including one case of intrauterine foetal anoxia (n=59), and systemic and metabolic diseases involving different organs/systems (n=569) with more than one disease in some cases.


CONCLUSIONS
Infections, particularly tuberculosis were a frequent cause of death in this series. The result of the study could indicate that cause of death is useful outcome indicator for disease control programmes.
Ullah
Khalil
K
Department of Pathology, Combined Military Hospital, Kharian Cantt. kisapzai@hotmail.com
Awan
Zaheer Iqbal
ZI
D000328:Adult; D001344:Autopsy; D002423:Cause of Death; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010154:Pakistan / Q000453:epidemiology