Table I

Definitions and Study Values for the 8 Cause-of-Death Categories (10)^– (12)

Cause of death	Definition	No. (%) in study
Neurologic — head trauma	Death due to intracranial abnormality, including the anatomic injury itself (e.g., contusion) or a secondary consequence of the injury (e.g., severe cerebral edema)	29 (27)
Cardiac failure	Death due to cardiac failure, including myocardial infarction or contusion, arrhythmia, congestive heart failure or pulmonary embolism	7 (6)
Respiratory failure	Death due to respiratory failure, including respiratory arrest, adult respiratory distress syndrome, inhalation injury, any pulmonary or ventilation insufficiency	7 (6)
Hemorrhage	Death due to uncontrolled bleeding, regardless of organ, but exclusive of the brain (e.g., a massive subdural hemorrhage should be coded to neurologic — head trauma).	16 (15)
Spinal cord trauma	Death due to spinal cord injury, usually an atlanto-occipital dislocation	1 (1)
Other	Death due to any other cause not listed above. (12 of the 20 other cases were the result of multiple trauma.)	20 (19)
Sepsis/systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS)	Death due to the systemic inflammatory response to infection caused by the presence of microorganisms in the host (sepsis) or the a variety of noninfectious pathologic causes, including multiple trauma and tissue injury or hemorrhagic shock. The response is manifested by 2 or more of the following: temperature > 38 °C or < 36 °C heart rate > 90 bpm respiratory rate > 20 bpm or Paco₂ < 32 mm Hg Leukocyte count > 12.0 × 10⁹/L, < 4.0 × 10⁹/L or > 10% immature forms. Severe forms may also include hypotension or hypoperfusion abnormality (e.g., lactic acidosis, oliguria, acute alteration of mental status).	18 (17)
Multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS)	Death due to altered organ function in an acutely ill patient such that homeostasis cannot be maintained without intervention. May be primary, a direct result of a well-defined insult (e.g., trauma/pulmonary contusion) in which organ dysfunction occurs early and can be directly attributable to the insult itself; or secondary, as a consequence of a host response and is identified within the context of sepsis/SIRS.	10 (9)