Bartella AK, et al. - Authors evaluated the risk factors for postoperative death that were independent of the stage of oral squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), or the age and sex of the patients. Findings suggested no notable difference in sex, age, or TNM classification. Significantly more renal and gastrointestinal diseases were seen in those who died postoperatively, but cardiac diseases and diabetes mellitus were not significant risk factors in themselves. They noted that for operation with curative intent, general diseases were not intrinsically a contraindication. In order to detect potentially fatal courses, the Charlson Comorbidity Score helped and could be useful in the preoperative assessment of patients whose general health was not good.