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Nontraumatic Multiple-Organ Fat Embolism
- Source :
- American Journal of Forensic Medicine & Pathology. 41:131-134
- Publication Year :
- 2020
- Publisher :
- Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health), 2020.
-
Abstract
- The patient was an 88-year-old woman with a 10-year history of hypertension. She was suspected to have been hit by a car. At the time of the event, she was conscious and able to stand on her own and had no obvious injuries. She was sent home, but she lapsed into unconsciousness and was nonresponsive after 2 hours. She was sent to the hospital, and her heartbeat and breathing stopped. After half an hour of rescue attempts, her heartbeat did not recover, and she was declared dead. During the autopsy, a small subcutaneous hemorrhage was observed below the right knee joint. No obvious internal organ injuries or bone fractures were observed. The deceased also had mild atherosclerosis in the coronary arteries and an old cerebral infarction in the right cerebellum. The tissue histopathological tests showed distinct fat embolism in multiple organs, including the brain, lungs, kidneys, liver, and pancreas. A postmortem blood biochemistry test of the heart blood showed that the levels of low-density lipoprotein, cholesterol, triglycerides, and free fatty acids in the blood were increased, and the level of C-reactive protein was elevated. According to the autopsy results, the direct cause of death was multiorgan fat embolism. This case suggests that aging, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia may be risk factors for nontraumatic fat embolism under stressful conditions.
- Subjects :
- medicine.medical_specialty
Embolism, Fat
Autopsy
Fatty Acids, Nonesterified
Kidney
Pathology and Forensic Medicine
03 medical and health sciences
0302 clinical medicine
Internal medicine
Hyperlipidemia
medicine
Humans
030216 legal & forensic medicine
Fat embolism
Lung
Pancreas
Triglycerides
Pedestrians
Cause of death
Aged, 80 and over
Cerebral infarction
business.industry
Unconsciousness
Accidents, Traffic
Brain
medicine.disease
Lipoproteins, LDL
Coronary arteries
C-Reactive Protein
Cholesterol
medicine.anatomical_structure
Liver
Hypertension
Cardiology
Subcutaneous hemorrhage
Female
medicine.symptom
business
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 1533404X and 01957910
- Volume :
- 41
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- American Journal of Forensic Medicine & Pathology
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....55e4e28795ddfea367c83aa398ed8365