Comparative Disease Patterns in the Elderly and the Very Old: A Retrospective Autopsy Study

Abstract

One hundred autopsy reports of persons who died in Iceland aged 90 years or over were studied and the causes of death were recorded. Another 100 autopsy reports of persons aged 70 years and under were used as controls. The disease pattern of those aged 70 or under did not differ much from that appearing in the Icelandic National Mortality Statistics, all ages included. However, in those aged 90 and over, the number of important diseases was higher and pneumonia, in particular, occurred more frequently both as an intervening and as an underlying cause of death. In the older age group, dementia was 3.4 times more common in males and 4.7 times more common in females. Malignant neoplasms were less frequent as causes of death in the older age group. In the older age group there was a much lower frequency of myocardial infarction compared with the controls, although the degree of arteriosclerosis did not differ in these two groups.

Patterns of Presentation, Diagnosis, and Treatment in Older Patients with Colon Cancer and Comorbid Dementia

“…Despite the greater prevalence of dementia noted in the cohort than previously described, dementia patients may have an overall incidence of cancer that is less than that of their peers without dementia. Autopsy studies of the oldest old have described less incidence of cancer in the oldest persons (e.g., >90) and in those with a history of dementia, 31,32 but these studies may not reflect the prevalence of dementia in the younger but elderly cancer population. Further study is warranted.…”

The clinical diagnostic accuracy rate regarding the immediate cause of death in a hospitalized geriatric population: an autopsy study of 1594 patients

“…A major characteristic of the geriatric patient is the presence of multimorbidity and polypathy, partly reflected by the number of major underlying diseases and sole diagnoses [4,[7][8][9][10][11].…”

Risk Factors for Deep Vein Thrombosis in Inpatients Aged 65 and Older: A Case‐Control Multicenter Study

“…Two important factors appear to exert a combined effect: age, although the independent nature of this factor is still controversial, 1 and institutionalization, the role of which has recently been shown to be independent 9 . DVT can have severe consequences, because the frequency of silent pulmonary embolism is 40% to 50% in patients with DVT, 10 and the incidence of pulmonary embolism is estimated to be between 7% and 33% at the time of death in elderly subjects 11–13 . Prevention of DVT is therefore essential and depends on the definition of high‐risk patients likely to benefit from preventive treatment.…”

“…9 DVT can have severe consequences, because the frequency of silent pulmonary embolism is 40% to 50% in patients with DVT, 10 and the incidence of pulmonary embolism is estimated to be between 7% and 33% at the time of death in elderly subjects. [11][12][13] Prevention of DVT is therefore essential and depends on the definition of high-risk patients likely to benefit from preventive treatment.…”