Respiratory causes of death: Autopsy review of 10 years at Kuala Lumpur

Sudden deaths due to respiratory causes are not uncommon. This study was aimed to determine the commonest form of fatal respiratory diseases in sudden deaths over past ten years based at UMMC, Malaysia. The cases of respiratory deaths were studied in relation to the demographic profile (age, gender, ethnic groups), predisposing factors (smoking, alcoholism and drug addiction) and underlying diseases (Hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and HIV) etc.

Respiratory causes of death were predominantly seen in middle age adults (30–40 years) and were found to be less in extreme age groups. Mean age = 34 years (SD = 17.23). Male comprised 81.62% of the total respiratory death cases. Malaysian Indians had the highest percentage of respiratory mortality (28.5%), followed by Malay (23.7%), Chinese (19.6%) and Indonesian (15.6%). From 1996 to 2003, the trend of respiratory death had been unstable but had increased significantly from the year 2003 onwards. In the year 1999 respiratory death cases were least (12 cases), while the highest number was recorded in the year 2005 (54 cases). March and October months had the highest frequency of respiratory death, 28 cases each. The commonest causes were pneumonia (95 cases), tuberculosis (57 cases), pulmonary embolism (34 cases) and asthma (29 cases). Pneumonia was the commonest cause of respiratory death in infants (46.7%). Cases who had been smokers and alcoholics, tuberculosis (26.8%) and pneumonia (44.8%) respectively were commonest cause of death in them. Diabetes mellitus, hypertension and AIDS had no significant association with cases who died of respiratory diseases.