Analysis of deaths in a paediatric tertiary care centre 1996 - 1998

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.