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A rare type of drowning with a latent period following surviving an episode of immersion

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Abstract

Drowning is a leading cause of accidental death worldwide and its diagnosis is an important part of forensic investigation. It is generally acknowledged that hypoxia due to airway obstruction by fluid is the primary mechanism of death in drowning. Drowned individuals are usually found dead in the water or show severe clinical signs once out of the water. However, sudden death due to drowning after a short period of recovery following immersion/submersion has rarely been reported. A case of a 40-year-old man who died suddenly due to severe pulmonary edema about 40 min after he was recovered from an episode of immersion is reported. We suspected delayed lung injury due to water aspiration as the prime cause of death. This rare type of drowning should be well recognized by a clinician or forensic pathologist.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Forensic Medicine, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 13 Hangkong Road, Wuhan, Hubei, 430030, People’s Republic of China

    Jiao Mu, Ji Zhang, Hongmei Dong & Liang Liu

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  1. Jiao Mu
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  2. Ji Zhang
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  3. Hongmei Dong
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  4. Liang Liu
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Correspondence to Hongmei Dong.

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Jiao Mu and Ji Zhang Joint first author and both are equal contributors to this work.

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Mu, J., Zhang, J., Dong, H. et al. A rare type of drowning with a latent period following surviving an episode of immersion. Forensic Sci Med Pathol 11, 74–77 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12024-014-9625-9

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