Abstract
Objective : Childhood autopsies occurring during January 1997 to December 1999 were reviewed.Method : Of the total 1,445 deaths autopsied, 441 (30.5%) were of pediatric patients.Result : Of these deaths, 70.3% occurred during neonatal period, 8.6% in infancy, and 21.1% in childhood. Birth asphyxia (57.7%) was the most frequent mode of death in the neonatal period. Infections (67.2%) predominantly accounted for infant and childhood mortality, those of respiratory tract (46.1%) being most frequent in infancy, early and mid childhood, and ent< fever in late childhood (33.3%). Descrepancy between ante-mortem and post-mortem diagnosis occurred in 29 cases (6.6%)Conclusion : Autopsy is an important clinical tool providing useful information to the physician. Few published reports are available on pediatric autopsies. This study aims to help in a better understanding of causes of deaths in neonates, infants and children.
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Dalal, S.R., Jadhav, M.V. & Deshmukh, S.D. Autopsy study of pediatric deaths. Indian J Pediatr 69, 23–25 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02723770
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02723770