Evaluation of infant mortality applied autopsied

In this study, it was aimed to examine the infants of 0-1 age group who were autopsied in terms of the causes of death, to determine the points to be considered in infant autopsies and to determine the preventable causes of death. Autopsy reports of infants aged 0-1 years who were autopsied between 2010 and 2019 in Elazig province were analyzed retrospectively. Medical documents (epicrisis, laboratory, radiology images, etc.) belonging to the mother and baby, which were determined to be registered in the automation system of Fırat University Hospital, and infant mortality information forms and commission minutes reported to the Elazig Provincial Health Directorate were examined. In this study, which did not include trauma-induced infant deaths, 92 cases meeting the infant death criteria were included in the study. While the rate of mothers being followed up during pregnancy was 89.1%, 6.5% were not followed up. Considering the birth weights of the babies, 62% had normal birth weight and 34.7% had low birth weight. Stillbirths made up 10.9% of deaths. 51.1% of the cases were girls and 52.2% were postneonatal period deaths. The mean age of the babies was 3.3±3.7 months. When separated according to age, 10 (10.8%) were in the fetal, 22 (23.9%) were in the early neonatal, 12 (13%) were in the late neonatal, and 48 (52.2%) were in the postneonatal periods. Considering the first causes of death, 39.1% of the cases were suspicious deaths. When the causes of death of these cases were examined according to the autopsy results, it was seen that the most common cause of death was lung infection with 32.6%, followed by deaths caused by aspirations of gastric content, food, etc. with 13.0%. Only one case's cause of death has not been determined. When the causes of infant mortality are evaluated periodically, the most common cause of perinatal period deaths is prematurity and related conditions with 23.5%, and deaths due to lung infection accounted for 33.3% of the late neonatal period deaths and 50% of the postneonatal period deaths. According to the commission minutes of Elazig Provincial Health Directorate, 19.6% of the deaths were preventable and 75% were determined as inevitable deaths. Considering the non-traumatic infant deaths performed forensic autopsy, it was observed that deaths due to infectious diseases were the most common. The inability to determine the cause of death of only one case makes clear the role of autopsy in giving the cause of death and improving preventable mortality rates. Reasons such as inadequate prenatal pregnancy follow-up, the problems of infant care, nutrition, and hygiene, delayed diagnosis and treatment, and long hospitalization periods lead to an increase in infant mortality due to infection. Since this study investigates the suspicious infant deaths that are forensic cases, although it is thought that the findings of this study may differ from the findings of other disciplines such as Public Health and Pediatrics that examine infant and child deaths, it was observed that there are some similarities with the findings of other studies. This situation reveals the necessity of a multidisciplinary approach in reducing infant mortality rates.