Abstract

MONTERO GONZALEZ, Teresita et al. Morphological alterations in burn disease: experiences in 156 autopsies. Rev Cub Med Mil [online]. 2008, vol.37, n.3. ISSN 0138-6557.

Burn disease in war or peace time is a challenge to recover life. A necropsy study of the patients who died of burn diseases registered in the database of "Luis Díaz Soto" Higher Military Medicine Institute was conducted to determine their main morphological alterations. The following variables were studied: age, sex, hospital stay, causes of death, presence of infection and multiple organ damage. More than the three fourth parts of the cases were aged 15-54, with a discrete predominance of females. Hospital stay fluctuates between 0 and 60 days with a mean value of 10.61 days. The dermohypodermic burns according to the extent of the burned body surface behaves frequently above 60 % in more than half of the studied cases. The direct causes of death manifested in a characteristic way. The lung was affected as a target organ in more than half of the dead. Sepsis stood out among the death causes. In the studied deceased, infection and multiple organ damage were present in 69.9 and 67.3 %, respectively. Among the most diagnosed diseases are those related to multiple organ damage. The experience gained by the group as regards preclinic studies, supports the need of carrying out an early therapeutical work to prevent the triggering of a systemic inflammatory response morphologically caused by multiple organ damage.

Keywords : Burn diseases; necropsy; multiple organ damage.

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