The epidemiology of autopsies in cardiovascular deaths of middle-aged men in Finland in 1973.

There were 414 certified deaths from cardiovascular diseases (CVD) in men aged 35--44, and 1372 at ages 45--54, in Finland during 1973. A detailed analysis of the examination of the cause of death in these cases was made by paying specific attention to the autopsy epidemiology. In men aged 35--44 years 68.6% of all cardiovascular deaths and 55.2% at ages 45--54 was verified by autopsy. The autopsy rate of cardiovascular deaths in these two populations of deceased males (1) was in 1973 about three times higher than it had been 10 years earlier, (2) decreased significantly with the age of the deceased population, (3) was higher in urban than in rural areas, (4) was markedly higher in Helsinki than anywhere else in Finland (at ages 35--44 the rate in Helsinki was 94.9% and at 45--54 76.2% in 1973), (5) was dependent on the actual place of death, (6) was higher than the mean rate recorded for all natural deaths in these two groups of male deceased, (7) was higher in the category of cerebrovascular deaths and lower in deaths from ischaemic heart diseases than the mean rate recorded for all cardiovascular deaths, and (8) was composed mainly of medicolegal autopsies, when the cause of death was some ischaemic or functional heart disease; mostly a clinical autopsy was made when the death was due to some other category of CVD. In addition, 76% of the deceased 35--54-year-old males who died from CVD were either autopsied and/or treated in a hospital before death. This result and the quite high national autopsy rates among the deceased young and middle-aged populations give support to the reliability of the national mortality statistics at these ages.