Investigation into use of drugs preceding death from XXXX .

@entity1 @entity565 @entity204 @entity288
Copies of death certificates were provided by the Registrar General for all @entity204 attributed to @entity565 in @entity1 aged 5 to 34 years which were registered in England and Wales in the last quarter of 1966 and the first quarter of 1967. Information was obtained from the relevant general practitioners about 177 of the 184 subjects, and necropsy data were obtained for 113 of the 124 cases in which a post-mortem examination was known to have been made. Ninety-eight per cent. of the subjects for whom evidence was obtained were known to have been suffering from @entity565 , and signs of severe @entity565 (overdistended lungs and small bronchi plugged with mucus) were found in 91% of necropsies (57% of all @entity204 ). Evidence that death might have been due to any other pathological condition was rare. @entity204 was sudden and unexpected in 81% of the subjects (137 out of 171), and 59% of all @entity204 were referred to coroners. In 39% of cases (67 out of 171) the practitioner had not regarded the @entity1 as suffering from severe @entity565 in his terminal episode. @entity288 and sympathomimetic preparations were the only drugs to have been used by a large proportion of @entity1 . Two-thirds of the @entity1 had received corticosteroids before the terminal episode, but detailed information about their use provided no suggestion that excess use could have been responsible for any large proportion of the @entity204 . Eighty-four per cent. of the @entity1 were known to have used pressurized aerosol bronchodilators, and several instances of their use in excess were described. Routine inquiries about their use in the hours immediately preceding death were not made, and further evidence is required before their effect can be assessed adequately.
