The importance of medico-legal autopsies. An analysis of the complex problems regarding damages

One hundred forty-four medico-legal autopsies were performed at the University Institute of Forensic Medicine in Copenhagen during the period 1973-77, all requested by the National Office of Social Security in order to estimate whether the cause of death could be related to the work of the deceased. The total number of medico-legal autopsies in the same period was 4050. The material included only four women. One hundred seventeen men died during work, 26 cases were accepted. Clear cases of accidents were always accepted and damages were paid. In cases where the deceased died on his way to or from work damages were rejected. Nineteen men (13%) had died after returning to their homes. Two cases among these were accepted (fall from scaffolding during working hours, arsenic poisoning where death occurred later in hospital). The mean age of the group was about 50 years, which is less than in an average medico-legal population. In all cases but two the autopsy revealed the cause of death, i.e. that unknown causes of death totalled 1.4%. The manner of death was elucidated in all cases. The most frequent cause of death in men turned out to be coronary sclerosis and coronary thrombosis. All such cases were rejected as being due to working conditions, because in no case was extraordinary working stress found to be evident. The two cases of death which occurred at home showed the importance of being aware of injuries due to working conditions, even if death could not be directly related to an industrial accident.     

孕产妇死亡医疗纠纷案法医病理研究

目的探讨孕产妇死亡医疗纠纷案的特点、主要死因及其防范对策。方法采用回顾性研究的方法,对我室1985年至2003年12月的法医尸体解剖案例资料进行统计,并对其中存在医疗纠纷的孕产妇死亡案例进行分析。结果31例存在医疗纠纷的死亡孕产妇法医尸检案例中:(1)围产期死亡26例(83.9%),妊娠早期人工流产后死亡5例(16.1%);(2)产科出血引起的失血性休克死亡22例(71.0%),羊水栓塞死亡5例(16.1%),其它原因死亡4例(12.9%);(3)乡镇医疗机构17例(54.8%),地县级医院占7例(23.6%),市级医院占4例(12.9%),其他占3例(9.7%);(4)纠纷产生的原因中疑为误治14例(45.2%),误诊的9例(29.0%),抢救不及时的7例(22.6%),其他1例(3.2%)。结论孕产妇死亡医疗纠纷案主要发生在围产期,其次是妊娠早期;产科出血是导致孕产妇死亡的最主要因素之一;乡镇及县级医疗机构易引起纠纷;引起纠纷的主要原因是误诊、误治和抢救不及时。     

The role of environmental factors in the causation of sudden death in infants: two cases of sudden unexpected death in two unrelated infants who were cared for by the same babysitter

We report two cases of sudden unexpected death in two unrelated African American female infants, 2 months and 4 months old. Both infants were attended to by the same babysitter in the same apartment and died 39 days apart in the same bed and in the same bedroom. The autopsy of the first infant revealed sudden unexplained death in an infant. Toxicologic analysis for carbon monoxide (CO) was not performed because it was not suspected. When the second infant died, investigation into the ambient air quality within the apartment revealed high levels of CO emanating from a poorly ventilated and defective hot water heater, which was located across a hallway from the bedroom where the two babies died. CO saturation levels in the postmortem blood samples of the two babies were elevated and were similar (13% and 14%). Nicotine and cotinine were not detected in the blood sample of the two infants. Cherry-red livor mortis was absent. Acute CO intoxication was determined to be the underlying cause of these two unexpected deaths. These two cases underscore the need to integrate ambient air analysis and postmortem CO analysis as routine components of the comprehensive death investigation of infants who die suddenly and unexpectedly.     

Mountaineering fatalities on Mount Rainier, Washington, 1977-1997: autopsy and investigative findings.

Mountain climbing is a popular recreational activity with a growing number of participants and associated fatalities. To define the characteristics of these fatal incidents and the typical autopsy findings in the victims, we reviewed the autopsy and investigative findings of all fatalities that occurred on Mount Rainier from 1977 through 1997. A total of 50 deaths occurred in 29 separate incidents. Fifty-eight percent of accident victims died as the result of a fall; another 34% died as a result of an avalanche. The incidents leading to death occurred at an average altitude of 3652 m (11,977 feet); range, 2073 to 4389 m (6800-14,400 feet). The average age of the victims was 31.2 years (range, 17-55 years), and 47 of the 50 were men (94%). Bodies were not recovered in 13 cases (26%). Autopsies were performed in 30 of the remaining 37 cases. At autopsy, the cause of death was ascribed to multiple injuries in 12 cases (40%), isolated head and neck injuries in 7 cases (23%), and chest injuries in 1 case (3%). Asphyxia and hypothermia were the cause of death in 8 cases (27%) and 2 cases (7%), respectively. The frequency of specific injuries is presented by anatomic region. The unique autopsy and investigative features of mountaineering deaths are discussed.     

270例尸体瞳孔的统计分析

本文报告270例尸体瞳孔形态、直径大小,并就其与死因、年龄、性别、死亡时的环境亮度以及死后经过时间的关系,进行了分析和讨论。有机磷中毒死的瞳孔平均直径最小(3.59mm);青壮年尸体瞳孔的平均直径较小儿、老年人略大;男性尸体瞳孔略大于女性。死于黑暗环境的尸体瞳孔较死于明亮环境的尸体瞳孔略大。生前因虹膜病变使瞳孔呈不规则形,死后瞳孔持续呈不规则形。作者认为,尸体瞳孔的形态、直径大小与死因(如有机磷中毒)有关,并受死者生前眼的健康状况、年龄及死亡时的环境亮度等因素的影响。在死后经过时间的瞳孔直径变化上,统计值无逐渐缩小或散大的规律性变化。     

A gas chromatographic method for determining acetaldehyde in cadaver blood

Gas-chromatographic method of acetaldehyde detection in blood of subjects who died of alcoholic intoxication is suggested. Method is simple, does not require additional expenses, can be readily used in medicolegal practice and in difficult cases it may help the expert to make an objective conclusion on the cause of death.     

Hypothermia Secondary to Glioblastoma Multiforme? Autopsy Findings in Two Cases

Death due to accidental primary hypothermia in cold climates is relatively common, with previous case series reflecting this. In contrast, hypothermia‐related death as a result of an underlying medical cause, such as a brain tumor, is rare. The literature clearly illustrates a theoretical causal relationship between brain neoplasms and hypothermia through the infiltration of the hypothalamus; however, the number of reported cases is minimal. Two cases are presented where autopsy confirmed hypothermia as the cause of death with both cases revealing widespread glioblastoma multiforme in the brain. Both decedents were elderly with a number of comorbidities identified during autopsy that could explain death; however, hypothermia was deemed the most likely cause. It is proposed that both decedents died of hypothermia as a result of the tumor's effect on thermoregulation. These cases underline the importance of forensic pathologists to be aware of the relationship between brain tumors and hypothermia and to not dismiss death as being due to other disease processes.     

冠心病猝死心肌mcl-1蛋白检测及其意义

目的观察冠心病猝死(SCD)心肌mcl-1蛋白产物,探讨其免疫组化检测及其对SCD诊断的意义。方法运用免疫组织化学SABC法,对46例SCD和40例非猝死心肌(有冠心病和无冠心病)中mcl-1蛋白产物进行检测和观察,并比较其差异。结果(1)自症状出现至死亡,时间超过30min的SCD(36例),其心肌组织均出现mcl-1蛋白阳性染色;(2)自症状出现至死亡,时间短于30min的SCD(10例),其心肌组织mcl-1蛋白呈弱阳性染色;(3)冠心病非猝死样本(20例),4例心肌出现微弱的mcl-1蛋白阳性染色,无冠心病非猝死样本(20例)几乎没有出现阳性染色。结论心肌mcl-1蛋白的免疫组化检测可诊断自症状出现至死亡时间超过30min的SCD。     

冠心病猝死心肌纤维连接蛋白免疫组化染色观察

目的研究纤维连接蛋白（FN）免疫组化染色对冠心病猝死（SCD）的病理学诊断价值。方法用兔抗人FN多克隆抗体对人SCD心肌、颅脑损伤和病毒性心肌炎致死者心肌进行FN-SP免疫组化染色观察，用图像分析处理系统对FN免疫组织化学染色阳性反应产物面积定量，所得数据进行统计分析。结果SCD组16例心肌组织内FN大量沉积；颅脑损伤致死组心肌细胞内FN染色阴性，病毒性心肌炎致死组部分心肌细胞内FN阳性；3组心肌细胞内的阳性反应面积存在显著性差异（P〈0．05）。冠心病猝死组阳性反应面积（μm^2）为54143．28±8474．92；颅脑损伤致组阳性反应面积（μm^2）为527．99±105．04；病毒性心肌炎组阳性反应面积（μm^2）为5483．53±1219．91。结论冠心病猝死者心肌FN免疫组化检测可为死因诊断提供可靠依据。     

Death from Hypothermia during a Training Course under “Extreme Conditions”: Related to Two Cases

Death from hypothermia following exhaustion or from various complicated pathologies is no longer a frequent cause of death among combat troops. During a training course under “extreme conditions” in the French Alps, two young African officers died. Confronted with these two clinically confirmed cases of hypothermia, the unknown anatomopathological and biological specificities associated with death from hypothermia were highlighted. In these typical and clinically confirmed cases of death from subacute exhaustion hypothermia, none of the signs revealed by the autopsy were specific. Although some recent publications have addressed the utility of postmortem biochemical markers when establishing a diagnosis, with no anamnesis, with no knowledge or analysis of the circumstances of death, and without an in situ examination of the body, it appears difficult, if not impossible, to confirm that death was caused by hypothermia.     

Delayed death following strangulation (hanging)

6 cases of suicide by hanging with delayed death are presented in tables laying out the circumstances and the findings. All the persons involved remained continuously unconscious after initially successful reanimation; two were at this time already dead. The survival times lay between 18 hours and 4 days. In two cases intravital vertebral death occurred. In the other cases death was due indirectly to hypoxial brain-damage which had led to a greater or lesser extent to elective parenchymal necrosis. In 3 of 4 histologically investigated cases there was evidence of extensive cell destruction in the PCA muscle which was, however, not specifically related to the process of hanging since lesions of this nature also occur with other cases of delayed death after reanimation. In 7th case the problems encountered in compiling an expert opinion are discussed in cases where there are no corresponding procedural details. A 44 year old man died 3 weeks after having been submitted to bondage in a brothel at his own request (including binding of the neck). Compression of the throat with emphasis on one side was evident resulting in extensive ganglial cell damage in one half of the cerebral cortex.     

A rare cause of 2 unclear fatalities: undiagnosed acute and chronic amebiasis

Two cases are reported of unexpected and unclarified death caused by an infection with Entamoeba histolytica. The first case concerned a German whose disease was not diagnosed during the asymptomatic phase (2 years' duration) or in the acute phase during the last 3 weeks before death. This is typical of the disease. In the final phase, he developed a hepatic abscess. Death occurred as a consequence of bilateral apoplexia in the adrenal glands. In the second case a Turk fell ill with gastralgia and diarrhea. Developing hepatic insufficiency with comsumptive coagulopathy, he died after 6 days. Intoxication and/or intolerance of fructose were assumed as tentative diagnoses. These two cases show clearly that even outside an endemic area, one has to reckon with the possibility of amebiasis.     

Unexpected death as a result of infective endocarditis

Thirteen cases of infective endocarditis (IE) diagnosed for the first time at autopsy or, in those patients with a previous diagnosis of IE, not thought to be active at the time of death, are presented. Of the six patients who died within 24 h of the onset of symptoms, two died of obstruction of a valve orifice, two died of sepsis, one died of sepsis and alcoholic cardiomyopathy, and one died of a coronary artery embolus. Of the five patients with symptoms lasting more than 24 h, three died of sepsis and congestive heart failure. One died from sepsis alone and one died from congestive heart failure (CHF). In two patients whose duration of symptoms is unknown, one died of sepsis and CHF, and in the other the mechanism of death is unknown. Predisposing factors present in 11 of 13 patients included alcoholism (three), intravenous (IV) drug abuse (three), prosthetic valves (three), aortic stenosis (two), past rheumatic fever (one), and nonstenotic congenitally bicuspid valves (two). The reasons for no antemortem diagnosis were a missed or incorrect clinical diagnosis in three patients seen by a physician shortly before death, no signs or symptoms or found dead (four), non-specific signs and symptoms (three), refusal of medical treatment (one), and a solitary lifestyle (one); there was insufficient information about one patient. Individuals with needle tracks, generalized petechiae. Osler's nodes, splinter hemorrhages, intravenous catheters, pacemaker wires, and infected aortic-valve (A-V) shunts are at risk of IE. Blood and the vegetations should be cultured. The attending physician should be notified of the diagnosis in such cases.     

Three cases of suspected hyperthermia with remarkable elevation of serum mast cell tryptase

Tryptase is a neutral protease of human mast cells, and an important indicator of mast cell activation and degranulation in anaphylactic events. The elevation of serum mast cell tryptase (SMCT) is used for postmortem diagnosis of anaphylaxis. We have quantified the SMCT levels of 122 forensic autopsy cases with various causes of death and found only three where the SMCT levels were remarkably elevated, with values of 179, 68.9 and 69.4 ng/ml (normal level <13.5 ng/ml). The three cases were suspected to have suffered from hyperthermia, and the deaths did not seem to be related to causes of death where SMCT levels have been reported to be elevated in some cases. Two cases were patients who had been prescribed long-term neuroleptics or antidepressants, and myoglobin was detected immunohistochemically in the renal tubules of both cases. The other case died of heatstroke. A possible mechanism of hyperthermia in SMCT elevation is discussed.     

U.S. Navy and Marine Corps recruit training deaths in San Diego, California, 1973-1985; a review of 31 cases.

The deaths of military recruits associated with training activities nearly always fall under close scrutiny from relatives of the deceased recruit and the media. The literature contains isolated case reports of recruit deaths but no comprehensive reviews of all deaths at a single training facility. The purpose of this study is to describe the circumstances and causes of all recruit deaths occurring at the Naval Training Command and the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego, California, from 1973 through 1985. Thirty-one male recruits died in training during this period; eight died from medical conditions not detected by preenlistment questioning or examination. In five of these cases, the conditions were probably known to the recruit but were not listed on a medical history form. Seven recruits died in incidents related to training, and there were six cases of "sudden cardiac death," as well as eight deaths caused by infectious diseases.     

Philemon and Baucis Death? Two cases of double deaths of married couples

When two human corpses are found in temporal and locational context the assumption of a non-natural cause of death is close at hand. Suicide, extended suicide, homicide or accident (particularly with carbon monoxide) come to mind. When, however, a natural cause of death emerges for both after autopsy and further examinations, this provokes the question whether this incidence is coincidental. In our two presented cases, a married couple each was found dead together. In both cases, the wife needed nursing and was being cared for by a husband who died of cardiac disease shortly before the wife died. In one case, the wife died of acute uncompensated chronic congestive heart failure. In the other case, the cause of death of the wife was hypovolemic shock due to acute gastrointestinal bleeding from recurrent gastric mucosal erosion. It is to be discussed for both cases whether, given the pre-existing illness, the acute stress of the situation in view to the husbands' death may at least have favored the occurrence of death and may, thus, have led to the criminologically conspicuous situation of finding.     

Death during immersion in water in childhood.

Drowning is a relatively common cause of accidental death in children. Autopsy records at the Adelaide Children's Hospital over a 27-year period from 1964 to 1990 were examined, and 58 cases were found where the cause of death was listed as drowning. In six cases, however, careful examination of the history and postmortem findings provided important additional information that suggested a more complex antemortem sequence of events. Specifically, four patients aged between 6 years, 10 months and 11 years were known to have had epilepsy. A further patient, an 8-year-old boy, died from a subarachnoid hemorrhage due to a bleeding cerebral arteriovenous malformation while swimming. The final patient, an 11-year-old boy who collapsed in a public swimming pool, was found at autopsy to have marked hypoplasia of the right coronary artery. In this series, six of 58 (10.3%) of the pediatric cases had additional underlying medical problems that could either have initiated the drowning episode or caused death due to alternate mechanisms. We present the clinicopathological findings in detail to demonstrate that a high index of suspicion must be maintained in all cases of pediatric drowning, not only for unnatural causes of death but also for additional natural disease processes that may have contributed significantly to the fatal episode. These findings may have particular relevance in jurisdictions where full postmortem examination is not always required by law.     

Sudden cardiac death in a young woman: tumor of the atrioventricular (AV) node or citalopram intoxication?

Atrioventricular (AV) node tumor is a very rare lesion of the cardiac conduction system. Clinically, it is associated with complete AV block and sudden cardiac death, often in apparently healthy young people.We report a case of a 24-year-old woman who developed ventricular fibrillation during sexual intercourse and died before admittance to the hospital. The woman had a medical history of depression and was treated with citalopram.At first, no macroscopic or microscopic pathologic changes were found. Toxicologic analysis showed a toxic level of citalopram in the blood. Further microscopic examination of the cardiac conduction system disclosed a tumor of the AV node. Immunohistochemical staining confirmed endodermal origin in accordance with the latest hypothesis of the pathogenesis of this tumor.It was concluded that this young woman died of cardiac arrhythmia due to the AV tumor and not from citalopram intoxication, as first suspected. This case emphasizes the importance of a microscopic examination of the cardiac conduction system in cases of sudden unexpected death, even in cases with a plausible cause and manner of death at first glance.     

The eyes of child abuse victims: autopsy findings.

The authors studied 77 pairs of eyes removed from children who had died of suspected child abuse. Forty-seven of the cases had retinal hemorrhages. Those showing retinal hemorrhages were younger children and had fewer other stigmata of child abuse. Hemorrhages are more likely to occur in cases where the child was shaken or swung than in those with severe direct head trauma. The authors recommend that examination of the eyes be included in the autopsies of all small children who died without an obvious cause of death. Experience in both processing and reading of ocular material is necessary for reliable results.