Geriatric autopsy pathology in centenarians.

The determinate causes of death, physical findings, and major pathologic findings in the organ systems of 32 patients, aged 100 years or older who died between 1921 and 1983, on whom autopsies were performed, are described. Atherosclerosis, neoplasia, and bronchopneumonia were common, but diabetes mellitus, obesity, hypertension, and cerebrovascular accident were absent or rare. Deaths from infection were fewer in the era of antibiotic usage, while cardiovascular and neoplastic deaths became more frequent during that time. The pathologic findings in our series of centenarians indicate that few of these patients died from debilitating diseases and that mortality from infection has been modified by antibiotic usage.