Social inequalities and the excess (%) in mortality by cerebrosvascular diseases (CVD) unregistered in the official death statistics were studied in Salvador, Brazil, 1988. In an ecological spacial (aggregate) desing, all death mentioning CVD as basic and as associated cause of death were reviewed and distributed, according to their addresses by 66 geographical zones. The mortality nates by CVD (basie+associated) ranged from 22.94 to 376.62/ 100000 adults. The mortality fraction not included in the official statistics was 29.1% for Salvador with means between 16.12 and 33.72% in the group of zones of very low to those in the high mortality levels. Seven out of 16 zones included in the 4th quantil showed exceptionally high mortality rates (above those of Salvador + 1.64 X standard deviation corrected by the zones population). The authors discuss possible explanations for the social differences in the mortality profile.
epidemiology; cerebrovascular diseases; mortality; associated cause of death; health planning; social inequalities