Todesursachen von obduzierten Kindern und Jugendlichen in Tirol zwischen 1961 und 2002

Medical advances have substantially changed causes of death over the past century. While infectious diseases were the leading cause of death among children and adolescents at the beginning of the twentieth century, the introduction of antibiotics and vaccination programs resulted in a marked decline in infectious mortality. At the same time, improvements in antenatal care, prenatal diagnostics, and neonatal medicine increased the survival of preterm and term infants. Today, congenital malformations and perinatal conditions account for a large proportion of childhood mortality.

Causes of death among children and adolescents in Tyrol between 1961 and 2002 were retrospectively analyzed using autopsy records from the Institute of Pathology, Neuropathology, and Molecular Pathology at the Medical University of Innsbruck. The study included transcription of autopsy reports, systematic categorization of diagnoses, and predominantly descriptive statistical analyses.

Between 1961 and 2002, 45,343 autopsies were performed, including 6023 children and adolescents (< 18 years). Detailed analyses were available for 5848 cases. Mean age was 1.10 years, with a median age of 0.0027 years (0.9 days). The most common cause-of-death category was diseases related to pregnancy and childbirth (58.7%), followed by congenital malformations and disorders (15.2%) and infectious diseases (11.9%). Within the perinatal category, 23.0% of cases were stillbirths and 22.7% were preterm births.

A substantial proportion of childhood and adolescent deaths were attributable to conditions arising during the perinatal period. These findings highlight the importance of optimized antenatal care and comprehensive neonatal and intensive care services.