§ Mr. Nigel JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many post mortems revealed Marfan syndrome in each of the last 10 years for which records are available. [48843]
§ Ruth KellyI have been asked to reply.
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Nigel Jones, dated 17 April 2002:
As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your question concerning how many post mortems revealed Marfan's syndrome in each of the last 10 years for which records are available. (44843)The figures requested are given in the table below. The data are only available in this form from 1993 onwards.
Number of deaths where a post mortem was carried out and Marfan's syndrome was subsequently noted on the death certificate, England and Wales, calendar years 1993 to 20001,2 Calendar year Number of deaths where The underlying cause of death3 Marfan's syndrome was: Mentioned on the death certificate only4 1993 12 3 1994 12 4 1995 20 4 1996 14 3 1997 15 5 1998 14 1 1999 13 2 2000 8 2 1Data relate to deaths occurring per calendar year. 2No inference can be made from these data as to whether Marfan's syndrome was diagnosed before or after death. 3The underlying cause of death is the disease or condition that initiates the train of morbid events leading directly to death. 4When a disease or condition was not the underlying cause of death but was noted on the death certificate but not coded to the underlying cause.