Citation

Weiss HB. Annu. Proc. Assoc. Adv. Automot. Med. 1999; 43: 57-70.

Affiliation

Center for Injury Research and Control, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

Copyright

(Copyright © 1999, Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This paper explores rates and causes of traumatic injury-related fetal deaths in Pennsylvania and the role of motor vehicle crashes. Data were determined from a manual review of fetal death certificates filed from 1995-1997 (7,131 cases). 31 traumatic injury cases were identified (6.5/100,000 live births). Most cases (94%) could be identified from the ICD-9 diagnosis code of 760.5 (maternal injury) and 87% contained narratives indicating specific injury mechanisms. Motor vehicles were the leading cause of injury (81%). Placental separation was the leading diagnosis (42%). The ICD-9-CM code 760.5 appears to be a specific indicator of traumatic fetal death, though it is not known how sensitive an indicator it is. Though not E-coded, the death certificates contained enough information to allow ascertainment of injury mechanism. Motor vehicle crashes play a predominant role in reported fetal traumatic injury-related deaths.