[The Mortality Committee: a hospital need]

Mortality Committees are multidisciplinary teams whose function is to analyze preventable causes of death in order to decrease the death rate, to contribute to the education of medical and paramedical staff and also to advise the hospital authorities in medical and administrative decision-making. In this paper we discuss the activities of the Mortality Committee of the Hospital de Pediatria from May 1989 to May 1991. The review comprised 202 death cases occurred during this period, and was carried out by the medical personnel involved in attending those cases while alive. In 42.5% of these cases the review was supplemented by the necropsy results. Patients' personal data, referral source, status on admission, principal disease, direct cause of death, adequacy of laboratory test and other studies, clinical/pathological correlation and suggestions to improve medical care are discussed. We suggest for every hospital the convenience of having this committee in order to improve the quality of medical care.