Necropsies in the elderly.

A retrospective analysis of 332 necropsies in the over-65-year-olds and 129 necropsies in the over 85-year-olds (overall necropsy rate 35%) showed that the commonest cause of death in elderly patients admitted acutely to hospital was pneumonic illnesses. 27-31% of the necropsies revealed the presence of a potentially treatable contributory factor to death that was undiagnosed during life. In only 4.5% of the necropsies in the over-85-year-olds was the cause of death uncertain.