The frequency of venous thromboembolism is high in geriatric practicel-3, particularly among surgical geriatric patients .4, Pulmonary embolism is a major (in some series the most common) cause of death in the elderly. 4, 6 In spite of abundant information concerning venous thromboembolism, there are still many unsolved questions from pathogenetic and diagnostic, as well as therapeutic points of view.Although clinical diagnostic procedures, in particular the use of phlebography,7-14 have been of great importance for the elucidation of the frequency and extent of thromboembolic disease, autopsy studies are a necessary complement for detailed information in this respect. Such studies must include, besides a thorough investigation of the pulmonary arterial system with its smallest ramifications, a complete venous dissection of the lower extremities. However, extended dissections of this kind are cumbersome and time-consuming, and are associated with such great practical inconveniences that they have been performed thoroughly only by a few investigators. 4, 15In order to facilitate the pathoanatomical exploration of the veins of the lower leg for broad postmortem studies of the frequency and significance of venous thromboembolism, intraosseous phlebography has been adopted as a new procedure for postmortem purposes at the Stureby Vardhem Geriatric Unit. This method, first described by Drassner,16 has previously been applied in extensive clinical studies, particularly by Arnoldi and Bauer.lo~ ~1The aim of this communication is to describe the method for intraosseous postmortem phlebography and to present preliminary data from studies in which this method has been utilized for examinaton of frequency and localization of thrombosis in the legs in geriatric patients. A more comprehensive and extended analysis of the material will be published later.l7Studies based on autopsy data from a general hospital fail to reflect the incidence of terminal illness in the community if admission of aged people is restricted and the autopsy frequency is low.2 Custodial institutions, on the other hand, provide unique access to information regarding the general incidence of such diseases. The
