A study of sudden natural deaths in medico legal autopsies in University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC), Kuala Lumpur

The main aim of this study is to determine the causes and the epidemiological aspects of sudden natural deaths. Data were collected from 545 sudden natural autopsies in UMMC, Kuala Lumpur over a five-year period, from 1st January 2000 to 31st December 2004. There were 475 males and 70 females. The largest number of sudden natural deaths was in the age group of 41–50 years. 35.8%, 30.5% and 11.7% of the patients were Chinese, Indian and Malay, respectively. A majority of the patients were married (59.8%) and came from the semiskilled–unskilled group (30.6%). The monthly distribution was almost constant. Cardiovascular diseases were the most important cause contributing 64.9% in sudden natural deaths.