title: Mortality in patients with traumatic spinal cord injury: descriptive analysis of 62 deceased subjects.
abstract: METHODS
  Retrospective study.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the causes of death in patients who were ≤ 50 years at the time of traumatic spinal cord injury (tSCI).
  
  
  METHODS
  Convenience sample of a tertiary rehabilitation center.
  
  
  METHODS
  All deceased patients with tSCI who survived a minimum of 10 years post-injury, were included. In addition, causes of death were compared between subjects surviving <10 years and ≥ 10 years. Neurological assessments were performed according to the American Spinal Injury Association scale. Data on causes of death were analyzed using the ICD-10 classifications. Differences were calculated using the Mann-Whitney and chi-square tests.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 100 patients, with 38 and 62 surviving <10 and ≥ 10 years, respectively, were included. No significant differences in causes of death were identified between these two groups. In patients surviving ≥ 10 years, paraplegia was associated with a higher life expectancy compared with tetraplegia, 34 and 25 years (p = 0.008), respectively, and the leading causes of death were septicemia (n = 14), ischemic heart disease (n = 10), neoplasms (n = 9), cerebrovascular diseases (n = 5), and other forms of heart diseases (n = 5). Septicemia, influenza/pneumonia, and suicide were the leading causes of death in tetraplegics, whereas ischemic heart disease, neoplasms, and septicemia were the leading causes of death in paraplegia.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our monocentric study showed that in 62 deceased patients with SCI, the leading causes of death were septicemia, cardiovascular diseases, neoplasms, and cerebrovascular diseases. In addition, no significant differences were identified between causes of death among patients surviving <10 years and ≥ 10 years post-injury.
authors: BG Trauma Hospital Hamburg, Germany. thietje@buk-hamburg.de
authors: Roland
authors: R
authors: Thietje
authors: M H
authors: MH
authors: Pouw
authors: A P
authors: AP
authors: Schulz
authors: B
authors: B
authors: Kienast
authors: Sven
authors: S
authors: Hirschfeld
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D038801:International Classification of Diseases; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009460:Neurologic Examination; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000401:mortality*; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult