[Autopsy study in the analysis of cardiovascular mortality]

The frequency of using autopsy to verify the cardiovascular causes of death was studied in typical regions of Russia. One thousand and sixty deaths from circulatory system diseases were analyzed among a representative sample of 285,736 subjects. Death occurred outside health care facilities in 88% of the analyzed cases; nevertheless, autopsy was made only in 28.3%. Moreover, autopsy was carried out in all cases of less than 40-year-old males and less than 50-year-old females who had died from suspected cardiovascular diseases. The proportion of notified cardiovascular mortality increased in the structure of overall mortality and the rate of autopsy-verified diagnosis decreased with advanced age. To obtain valid information on cardiovascular mortality rates is limited due to low autopsy rates primarily in cases of death outside health care facilities, particularly among elderly and senile persons, despite the fact that it is these fatal cases that constitute the bulk of registered cardiovascular mortality.