Severe multiple organ failure in the elderly:Analysis of 55 cases

From April of 1977 to January of 1987,55 cases of severe multiple organ failure（failure only involving heart and lungs were excluded）above 60 years old were treated.Each case suffered from 2 to 11 kinds of chronic diseases with an average 3.8 kinds and an average 3.3 organ failures.The average motality was 90.91% with successful resuscitation each in 2,3,4,5,6 organ failures.Unlike MOF in young and mid-aged adults in which sepsis and trauma were the main factors,among the elderly pulmonaly infection（72.73%）,metastatic carcinoma（14.55%） cardiac arrhythmia（7.28%）and inproper medi-ation（5.45%）were the chief causes.Low organ perfusion,endotoxin and immunological insufficiency probably contributed much to their development.Diagnosis,prognosis,therapy and prevention of MOF in the elderly were further discussed.