The American journal of forensic medicine and pathology
-
Am J Forensic Med Pathol · Jun 2009
A nationwide survey of the extent of autopsy in sudden unexplained death in epilepsy.
Sudden unexplained death in epilepsy is a catastrophic event that requires autopsy for definitive diagnosis. Lack of awareness of sudden unexplained death in epilepsy as an important cause of death in epilepsy has been observed among coroners and pathologists. This survey study of US coroners and medical examiners (MEs) assesses their postmortem examinations of persons with epilepsy who had died suddenly without obvious cause. ⋯ Urban coroners and MEs are significantly more likely than their nonurban colleagues to remove the brain for examination or collect blood samples for these determinations. Lack of family consent and the cost of autopsy are major reasons for not performing an autopsy of persons with epilepsy. Our study underscores the importance of promoting to all coroners and MEs and to the public the need for thorough autopsy of persons with epilepsy when the cause of death is not obvious.
-
Am J Forensic Med Pathol · Jun 2009
Case ReportsAn unusual suicide case of the combination of asphyxia.
A 52-year-old man died of a combination of suffocation by adherent tape wrapped around the head to cover the airway and ligature strangulation by an electrical cord. An autopsy could not conclusively determine whether it was a case of suicide or homicide. ⋯ Suicide because of a combination of several forms of asphyxia has rarely been reported in the past. Therefore, this is a very rare and unusual suicide case.