Pulmonary embolus as cause of death in an adolescent: demonstration on postmortem CT
Case Report
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Abstract
Computed tomography (CT) is widely accepted in adult forensic death investigations (determination of cause and manner of death) but is only beginning to play a larger role in the cause of death determination in infants and children. We present a case of an adolescent with nephrotic syndrome who sustained cardiac arrest and died in the emergency department. A postmortem CT was requested by the state Office of the Medical Examiner as part of the medicolegal death investigation. Postmortem CT showed a saddle pulmonary embolus that was confirmed on conventional autopsy, demonstrating a natural manner of death.
Keywords
Adolescent Autopsy Chest Computed tomography Postmortem Pulmonary embolusNotes
Compliance with ethical standards
Conflicts of interest
None
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