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Dusseldorf autopsies 1914–1918

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Abstract

This article presents an evaluation of 4255 autopsy cases recorded at the Dusseldorf Pathology Institute in the years 1914 to 1918. Diagnoses were coded according to the International Classification of Diseases, 10th edition (ICD-10), and the contemporaneous history of the Pathology Institute was reviewed. We found a proportion of 54.1% adults and 45.5% children in our cohort, with a male predominance of 63.9%. Infectious diseases account for the majority of all cases (35.5%), among which tuberculosis is the most frequent, reported in 22.7% of all cases. The second largest diagnosis group is the one of respiratory diseases (16.9%), including pneumonia and influenza. Cases of perinatal conditions account for 10.5% of the collective, followed by neoplasms, injuries, intoxications, or external causes, each representing 6.6%. Cardiovascular diseases account for 5.3% of the cases. In 4.4% of the pediatric and 0.8% of adult cases, a diagnosis of the ICD-10 group “nutritional and endocrine diseases” was made. No diagnosis of hunger edema is reported. Parts of the cohort are 272 war pathology cases (6.4%), made up by soldiers who mainly had died of shotgun injuries. The whole cohort represents the disease spectrum of a German big city population at times of World War I. The data exemplify the epidemiological shift that has occurred in industrialized countries over the last 100 years, from infectious to neoplastic and cardiovascular diseases.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Prof. Robin Cooke, Emeritus Consultant, Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital, Australia, for a kind visit to Dusseldorf, for inspiration and discussions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Pathologisches Institut, Klinikum Landshut, Robert-Koch-Str. 1, 84034, Landshut, Germany

    G. Babaryka

  2. Institute of Dermatology, Heinrich-Heine University and University Hospital of Dusseldorf, Dusseldorf, Germany

    S. Janßen

  3. Department of Surgery, Spital Linth, Uznach, Switzerland

    E. Winand

  4. Institute of Pathology, Heinrich-Heine University and University Hospital of Duesseldorf, Duesseldorf, Germany

    L. Häberle & I. Esposito

Authors
  1. G. Babaryka
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  2. S. Janßen
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  3. E. Winand
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  4. L. Häberle
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  5. I. Esposito
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Contributions

All the authors met the criteria listed in the ICMJE recommendations for the qualification of authorship.

Janßen and Winand had full access to all the data and take responsibility for the integrity and accuracy of the data.

Concept and design: All authors.

Acquisition, analysis, interpretation of data: Janßen, Winand, Babaryka.

Drafting of the manuscript: Janßen, Häberle, Babaryka.

Revision of the manuscript: All authors.

Statistical analysis: Janßen, Winand.

Supervision: Esposito, Babaryka.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to G. Babaryka.

Ethics declarations

This study was approved by the ethics committee of the Heinrich-Heine-University Dusseldorf (study number 5870R).

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Babaryka, G., Janßen, S., Winand, E. et al. Dusseldorf autopsies 1914–1918. Virchows Arch 478, 1187–1195 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00428-020-02977-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00428-020-02977-4

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