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0 MEDICAL CERTIFICATE OF DEATH 3C | T4

Dr. Lahoz | 29 September 2020

OUTLINE  Entries to Part I must show a sequence of events

I. PARTS OF MEDICAL CERTIFICATE OF DEATH leading to death reported in casual order, one cause per
II. ILL–DEFINED CONDITIONS line, starting with the most recent condition or event on
III. MECHANISTIC TERMINAL EVENTS the topline and going backward in time on progressively
IV. RELEVANT ENTRIES THAT MUST BE FILLED lower lines until the underlying cause is reported on the
OUT BY THE CERTIFIER lowest line.
V. GENERAL GUIDELINES FOR COMPLETING THE  The most effective public health objective is to
MEDICAL CERTICATE OF DEATH prevent the underlying cause from operating, hence the
VI. GUIDELINES FOR REPORTING CAUSES OF importance of accurately identifying the underlying cause.
DEATH IN SPECIFIC GROUPS OR CONDITIONS  From the standpoint of prevention of death, it is
VII. ASSESSING THE QUALITY OF MEDICAL necessary to break the chain of events or to effect a
CERTIFICATION cure at some point
Black : PPT Red: Audio
Case Sample 1: When there is only one reported cause of
Legend: death in the certificate
Remember Nice to Trans  A 56-year-old man dies from acute myocardial infarction
Lecturer Book
(Exams) Know Comm within 3 hours of its onset. He did not have any other
illnesses.
 �   

I. PARTS OF MEDICAL CERTIFICATE OF DEATH

A. PART 1
 Causes of death refer to those diseases, morbid
conditions, or injuries which either resulted in or
contributed to death and the circumstances of the
Case Sample 2: When there are only two reported causes of
accident or violence which produced any such injuries
death in the certificate
 Physicians are exposed to use medical training,
 A 65-year-old person dies from abscess of the lung, which
knowledge of medicine, patient symptoms and
resulted from lobar pneumonia of the left lung.
available medical history, diagnostic tests and
autopsy result, if available and verbal autopsy result
to determine the cause of death.

↳ Death is caused by lung abscess secondary to lobar

pneumonia

Case Sample 3: When there are three causes of death

IMMEDIATE - The most recent condition written on reported
CAUSE top line of the certificate that directly  A 32-year-old man dies from hypovolemic shock after
leads to death. sustaining multiple fractures when he was hit by a truck.
ANTECEDENT - Other intervening cause (or causes) of
CAUSE death occurring between the underlying
and immediate causes.
UNDERLYING - The disease or injury which initiated the
CAUSE OF train of morbid events leading to death,
DEATH or the circumstances of the accident or
violence which produced the fatal
↳ In trauma patients or violent death, ung underlying is the
injury.
external event that brought the incident
 ALWAYS write the immediate cause of death ↳ Immediate cause of death is the condition that brought
 Others may not be filled up, let’s say there are other no about directly the death of the patient
information regarding the events of death (in the case of
MHO-verbal autopsy
TRANSCRIBER | Palacpac, Pigangay, Pilar, Reynante, Saikol, Villarin
MEDICAL CERTIFICATE OF DEATH

Case Sample 4: When there are more than three reported Case Sample 6
causes of death  A 65-year old man has a long history of on and off
 A 10-year-old boy with a past medical history of hemoptysis and weight loss has been diagnosed to have
Thalassemia for the past 4 years develops severe anemia advanced pulmonary tuberculosis for six years. After a bout
leading to high output cardiac failure 2 weeks ago. Three of massive hemoptysis while working in the farm, the
(3) Days prior to admission, he developed cough and patient died at home six hours later.
dyspnea with a respiratory rate of 44/minute. Chest x-ray
showed lobar pneumonia. Despite antibiotic coverage and
blood transfusion his condition deteriorated, and he died
the next day.

!!!!! CARDIOPULMONARY ARREST IS NOT A

DIAGNOSIS!!!!

B. PART 2 II. ILL–DEFINED CONDITIONS

 Includes all other significant or contributory co-  The ill-defined causes of death under ICD-10 are vague
existing or pre-existing diseases or conditions that categories and conditions that include signs and
contributed to \death but do not directly lead to the symptoms and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings.
underlying cause of death listed in Part I.  Don’t use as the immediate cause of death
 Sample ILL-Defined Conditions:
Case Sample 5: When there is reported condition contributing  Disseminated Intravascular Coagulopathy
to death  Pulmonary edema
 A 68-year-old man who is a known diabetic died from lung  Congestive Heart Failure
abscess due to lobar pneumonia of left lung.  Ventricular Tachycardia
 Volume depletion
 Pulmonary embolism
 Cardiovascular disease, unspecified
 Heart disease, unspecified
 Hypotension, unspecified
↳ Other coexisting condition that contributed to the death
but not directly the cause of death eg.DM you get an  As a rule, ill-defined conditions should not be reported on
immunocompromised patients, so underlying cause of a Certificate of Death unless nothing else is known about
death may be written like this the deceased and unless a more specific underlying
↳ Not directly a cause of death but could have contributed cause is also reported.
to the cause of death or worsening of the condition  If you have this one, you have to have antecedent cause
of death. Do not say na congestive heart failure lang ang
C. INTERVAL BETWEEN ONSET AND DEATH immediate cause of death kasi what brought about the
 The spaces to the right of the lines (a), (b), and (c) congestive heart failure could be MI, RHD, could be
correspond to the entries for recording the interval COPD. Unless there is nothing known, wala tayong
between onset of the cause, and death magagawa.
 General intervals such as seconds, minutes, hours,
days, weeks, months and several years are also
acceptable. A range such as seconds to minutes.
Minutes to hours, or terms such as “known for five
years” may be used.
 As a rule the underlying cause occurred first in the
sequence of events and would logically have the
longest time interval.
 Underlying cause – Longest time interval ↳ You cannot just say sepsis, there should be the source of
 Immediate cause – Shortest time interval sepsis. It could be meningitis, infected wound
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MEDICAL CERTIFICATE OF DEATH

 Terms that imply mode of dying rather than the cause of  Other relevant entries:
death* (Don’t use as immediate cause of death)  20. Autopsy, whether done or not
Asphyxia Heart failure Syncope  21a. Attendant before death, whether by a private
Asthenia Hepatic failure Uremia physician, public health officer, hospital authority, none
Brain Hepatorenal Vaginal inhibition or others (specify)
Failure Failure Vasogvagal  21b. Dates for duration of time of attendance, if
Cachexia Kidney Failure attack deceased was attended before death
Coma Renal Failure Ventricual Failure  22. Certification of death – AFFIX signature
Euthanasia Shock - Certification of death containing the time of death
and whether the deceased was attended or not;
 Example: signature, name, position and address of the
CERTIFIER (Physician) and the date signed; and
name and signature of Local Health Officer as
REVIEWER and the date signed.

 Ill-defined conditions = “Garbage Code”

 The so-called “garbage codes” include all the above
ill-defined or residual categories of major disease
groups that do not provide meaningful information on
the underlying disease or injury that caused death.

III. MECHANISTIC TERMINAL EVENTS

 These are terminal pathophysiologic or biochemical
derangements that are common final pathways that V. GENERAL GUIDELINES FOR COMPLETING THE
explain how a cause of death exerts its lethal effect. MEDICAL CERTICATE OF DEATH
 In general, mechanistic terminal events have an ALMOST  Use the current form of Certificate of Death (Municipal
LIMITLESS differential diagnoses and SHOULD NEVER Form No.103, Revised January 2007) or Certificate of Fetal
be reported in the Certificate of Death as one of the Death (Municipal Form No. 103A, Revised January 2007)
causes of death. as designated by the Office of the Local Civil Registrar.
 Mechanistic terminal events include the following:  Do NOT make alterations or erasures. Obvious changes
 Respiratory arrest could affect the VALIDITY of a certificate and altered
certificates may be REJECTED by the Local Civil Registrar.
 Cardiac arrest
 Do not use abbreviations or medical symbols.
 Cardiopulmonary arrest
 Record only one cause per line in the cause-of-death
 Asystole
portion.
 Ventricular fibrillation  Line (a) (immediate cause must always have an entry.
 Electromechanical dissociation  If the condition on line (a) resulted from another condition,
put this other condition on line (b), and so on, until the full
IV. RELEVANT ENTRIES THAT MUST BE FILLED OUT sequence is reported. ALWAYS enter the underlying cause
BY THE CERTIFIER of death on the lowest used line in Part I. Never skip lines.
 19b. Causes of death entry containing three lines marked ADDITIONAL lines may be added if necessary.
(a), (b), and (c) with the corresponding lines for the entry of  NEVER report signs and symptoms or ABNORMAL clinical
interval between onset and death, and a line for other and laboratory findings as CAUSES of death.
significant conditions contributing to death.  If an ORGAN FAILURE (e.g. congestive heart failure) is
 19c. Maternal condition, if the deceased is female aged 15 reported as a cause of death, the underlying condition
to 49 years old responsible for the failure should also be reported (e.g. liver
 19d. Death by external causes which include manner of failure due to hepatitis B infection).
death and place of occurrence of external cause, when  MECHANISTIC TERMINAL EVENTS (e.g.
applicable cardiopulmonary arrest) should NEVER be reported as one
of the causes of death.
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MEDICAL CERTIFICATE OF DEATH

 If there is UNCERTAINTY in the entries for causes of B. Fetal Death

death, it is acceptable to use qualifying terms such as  Fetal death is a death prior to the complete expulsion
“PROBABLE” or “PRESUMED.” of a product of conception, irrespective of the period
 For deaths WITHOUT medical attendance, a VERBAL of pregnancy.
AUTOPSY may be conducted to determine cause.  For all fetal deaths, a different death form called
 Complete each item legibly using a computer printer with Certificate of Fetal Death (Municipal Form No. 103A)
high resolution or typewriter with black ribbon, or print with must be prepared and the causes of death completely
pen using permanent black ink. filled out by the certifier.
 For signatures, use pen with permanent black ink. Rubber  Report even spontaneous abortions or those with
stamps or facsimile signatures are not acceptable. AOG <20 weeks
 File original copies of the Certificate of Death with the  CAUSES OF FETAL DEATH
Office of the Local Civil Registrar. Reproductions or a. Main disease/condition of fetus
duplicates are not acceptable. b. Other disease/ condition of the fetus
c. Main maternal disease/condition affecting fetus
VI. GUIDELINES FOR REPORTING CAUSES OF DEATH d. Other maternal disease/condition affecting fetus
IN SPECIFIC GROUPS OR CONDITIONS e. Other relevant circumstances
A. Death involving Women of Child-bearing age
 For women aged 15 to 49 years of age, indicate
under item 19 the maternal condition whether
pregnant non in labor, pregnant in labor <42 days
after delivery, 42 days to one year after delivery, or
none of the above.
 A MATERNAL DEATH refers to “death of a woman
while pregnant or within 42 days of termination of
pregnancy, irrespective of the duration and the site of
pregnancy, from any cause related to or aggravated
by the pregnancy or its management, but not from
accidental or incidental causes.”
 The fact that a woman died during pregnancy or
within 42 days of the termination of pregnancy should
be clearly indicated in under Maternal Condition.

Case Sample 7
 A 36-year old G5P3A1 woman who delivered a full-term
baby boy at home was brought to the Emergency Room ↳ Fill up the main disease, condition of the fetus as well as
because of placental retention. The woman apparently had the maternal disease condition kasi pwedeng yan ang
severe bleeding and was hypotensive on her arrival at ER. cause ng death ng fetus
She was transfused whole blood and manual extraction of
the placenta was performed. However, the woman died Case Sample 8
four hours after delivery.  A 38-year old G3P2 was admitted at a birthing facility while
34 weeks pregnant. After six hours of premature labor, she
delivered a stillborn baby boy with cord around his neck.
The fetus is cyanotic with no gross fetal movement and no
heartbeat.

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MEDICAL CERTIFICATE OF DEATH

C. Infant Death
 For deaths involving infants aged 0 to 7 days, the
same form of Certificate of death is used as in other
deaths from the general population except that the
Medical certificate portion found at the back of the
form is filled out instead of the one in front.
 Instead of reporting the underlying and/or immediate
cause of death, with or without antecedent cause, the
certifier has to report the main maternal disease or
condition affecting the infant, as well as for other
diseases or conditions

 In reporting causes of infant deaths, the certifier

should fill out in lines (a) and (b) the diseases or
conditions which in his opinion had contributed to the
death of the infant, just like in fetal death.
 The single most important or main disease or
condition in infant should be entered in line (a) and
the remainder, if any, in line (b).
 The mode of dying (asphyxia, heart failure, anoxia),
including prematurity, should NOT be entered in line
(a) unless it was the only known condition.
 In lines (c) and (d), record all diseases condition in the Case Sample 9
mother which had some effect on the infant. The  A 38 yo G3POA2 was admitted at a birthing facility while 24
main maternal disease or condition should be entered weeks pregnant. She has been having premature labor for
in line (c) and the rest, if any, in line (d). six hours. She subsequently delivered 700g infant who was
 Line (e) id for reporting of other relevant treated at the intensive neonatal care unit but subsequently
circumstances which have bearing on the death of the died after 24 hrs. chest x-ray of the infant shows dense
infant but cannot be identified as a disease or lung fields consistent with severe hyaline membrane
condition of the infant or the mother (e.g. home disease
delivery +or delivery attended by untrained hilot).
 There are other items in the certificate of death that
must be filled out for infant deaths. There are: the age
of the mother, method of delivery, length of
pregnancy, type of birth, and order of child, if multiple
birth
 There are other items in the certificate of death that
MUST be filled out for INFANTS death. These are:
 Age of mother
D. Death Involving External injuries
 Method of delivery
 A useful approach to writing causes of death involving
 Length of pregnancy
external injuries is to report the external cause or
 Type of birth events as the UNDERLYING CAUSE and identify the
 Order of child bodily trauma caused by the external event and
report it as ANTECEDENT CAUSE, and lastly report
the fatal derangement resulting from the bodily
trauma as the IMMEDIATE CAUSE.
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MEDICAL CERTIFICATE OF DEATH

F. Death From Neoplasm

 It is important to indicate or report the specific site of
neoplasm because public health prevention strategies
differ markedly from one type of neoplasm to another.
 The primary site must be stated on the Certificate of
Death even if it has long been removed before death.
If a secondary growth is included in the sequence of
events leading to death, state the site of secondary
growth as due to the site of primary growth.
 If the primary site is unknown, record on the certificate
of death, “primary unknown.” The certificate should
always state the primary site as this will help identify
the underlying cause of death. More often than not,
the primary site is the underlying cause of death.
 Aside from the site of neoplasm the certifier must
also indicate on the certificate of death the behavior of
the tumors (whether benign or malignant), and its
nature or histologic type, if known

 When death is a result of underlying external cause,

item 19d must be completed by the certifier:
 MANNER of death whether homicide, suicide,
accidental, or legal intervention
 PLACE of occurrence of external cause whether
at home, farm, factory , street or sea
VII. ASSESSING THE QUALITY OF MEDICAL
E. Death from Infections CERTIFICATION
 For deaths due to infections, the certifier has to report  Documenting multiple causes per line
the manifestation or body site (e.g. pneumonia,  Incorrect/clinically improbable sequence of events leading
pyelonephritis, meningitis, hepatitis). to death
 If the causative agent is known, it should be noted on  Approximate interval between onset and death
the certificate; if unknown, write “cause unknown”.  Abbreviations used in certifying the death
 Also indicate the source and route of the infection (eg.  Legible hand writing
Food poisioning, contaminated blood product, health  Ill-defined condition entered as underlying COD
care associated infection), if known.
 Specify also any underlying disease that may have Review of Important Points
suppressed the patient’s immunity that made him  Is the death reportable?
susceptible to the infection that led his death.  Am I the Physician most qualified to certify this death?
 Cause of Death= physician’s best medical opinion
 Minimum of 1 COD, maximum of 4 COD, one cause per
line except antecedent (max 2)
 No skipping of lines, lowest line with an entry is
designated as the underlying COD

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MEDICAL CERTIFICATE OF DEATH

 Indicate time interval from onset to death, be Municipal Form 103 - Attachment for Muslim Death
approximated
 Underlying COD should have longest time interval
 Avoid ill-defined conditions, may use one ill-defined
condtion as long as more specific underlying condition
is included
 No mechanistic terminal events
 Fill out other pertinent items
- Maternal condition, death by external cause,
autopsy, attendant, duration of attendance
 Be specific when applicable- infections, neoplasm etc.

Other reminders
 Permanent black ink
 Write legibly
 NO stamps, fasimiles- must be original signature
 NO abbreviations or symbols (not standardized)
- HPN, HTN, ARF
- Only HIV, AIDS is intentionally accepted
abbreviation
IP Form 2 – Attachment for death of ICCs/Indigenous
Peoples
 In a case of DM, dying of septicaemia due to gangrene of
a limb

 If the individual was suffering from any other disease

which is not related to the underlying cause hence can
pot be part of the sequence, but, in the opinion of the
certifier, has contributed to death, such a condition too is
to be recorded in the certificate.

 Dead On Arrival:
 brought to the ER unconscious, and eventually dies in
the ER within 24 hours

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