Fatality due to rupture of aneurysms: Autopsy review of ten years at UMMC Malaysia (1996–2005)

Aneurysm, especially aortic and intracranial aneurysms, account for diseases affecting blood vessels which cause significant mortality due to hemorrhage following its rupture. The objective of the study was to determine the number of fatalities due to rupture of aortic and intracranial aneurysms in autopsies in UMMC, thus to determine the pattern of deaths relating to ethnicity, age group, sex and correlation with its known risk factors and medical history. A total of 29 deaths were found due to rupture of aneurysms in autopsies performed in the Department of Forensic Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya from 1st January 1996 to 31st December 2005. Over the stated period, aneurysm contributes to 0.005% of deaths. It generally affected the middle age groups (60%) with sex ratio of M:F = 3:1. Chinese contributed 69% of cases, followed by Malay (17%), Indian (7%) and others (7%). Atherosclerosis was noted in 57% and obesity in 59% of cases, thus depicting a satisfactory correlation. 47% of the total cases had possessed one or more risk factors such as hypertension, obesity, alcohol consumption and smoking.