and was interested in ascertaining how many doctors die from surgically correctible diseases. The one entity that intrigued me was dissecting abdominal aortic aneurysm (medial necrosis). I, therefore, listed the number of deaths reported each week for the entire year, the number reported as dying from the above mentioned entities, and the ages of those doctors dying of aortic diseases.Of the 3,625 deaths reported, 61 (1.68%) were deaths from ruptured and/or dissecting abdominal aortic aneurysm. The average age of these 61 doctors was 72.03, with an age range from 47 to 93. with mortality rates, by age groups, following surgery for ruptured and dissecting abdominal aortic aneurysms, as reported by DeBakey and Crawford.1 Comparison of these figures would seem to indicate that, if the diagnosis of aortic aneurysms were made in our series of 61, approxi¬ mately 57 doctors might have been saved by cor¬ rective surgery.This letter is written only as a matter of interest and with the thought that, with earlier diagnosis and treatment, many of our own colleagues might have been saved over the years.
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