Abstract:
Objective To study in detail deaths of patients
admitted to the Professorial Paediatric Unit at Lady
Ridgeway Hospital (LRH), Colombo.
Design Retrospective study in 1996 and 1997 and
prospective study in 1998.
Method Records of the deceased were analyzed in
detail. Autopsies were performed whenever
consent was obtained.
Results In 1996 there were 6302 admissions, 46
(0.73%) deaths with 28 (60.9%) being below the
age of 1 year. Fourteen (30.4%) deaths were due to
infective causes and 09 (19.5%) were due to
congenital heart disease (CHD). Twenty six
(56.5%) died within 48 hours of admission. Male to
female ratio was 1.1:1.
In 1997 the total number of admissions was 6102
with 49 (0.8%) deaths and 28 (57%) deaths
occurred within 48 hours of admission. CHD
accounted for 11 (22.4%) deaths. In 1998 there
were 5975 admissions and 68 (1.14%) deaths.
Eleven (16.1%) were due to CHD and 30 (44%)
due to infections. 24 (35%) of the deaths occurred
in the months of April and May coinciding with the
Influenza A epidemic. Male to female ratio was
1:1.03.
A similar pattern of deaths was seen in the three
years except for April and May 1998. Annually
about 20% died of CHD. Respiratory tract infection
was the commonest cause of death due to
infections.
Conclusions Majority of deaths occurred under 1
year of age. The main cause of death in all age
groups was infection. The second commonest cause
of death was CHD. Majority of deaths occurred
within 48 hours of admission suggesting that the
condition of these patients was critical on
admission.
