Thoracic aortic aneurysms are less common than abdominal aortic aneurysms, however they are life-threatening and usually asymptomatic until acute complications occur. The majority of thoracic aorta aneurysm are associated with medial degeneration rather than atherosclerosis and the fusiform aortic aneurysm is common. Considering that it usually occurs during the sixth and seventh decades of life, its occurrence in a peripartum woman is unusual. Aortic dissection or thoracic aortic aneurysm with aortic insufficiency during pregnancy or peripartum has been reported, however, to our knowledge, the case of ascending thoracic aortic aneurysm in peripartum women, with saccular type without aortic valve involvement but not diffuse dilatation, has not been reported. Herein, we presented two autopsy cases of ascending thoracic aortic aneurysm during postpartum.
Aneurysm ; Aorta, Thoracic ; Aortic Aneurysm ; Aortic Aneurysm, Abdominal ; Aortic Aneurysm, Thoracic ; Aortic Valve ; Atherosclerosis ; Autopsy ; Dilatation ; Female ; Humans ; Peripartum Period ; Postpartum Period ; Pregnancy ; Rupture

Nicotine is a water-soluble alkaloid extracted from tobacco plants, and most frequently encountered in snuff, chewing tobacco, cigarettes, cigars and pipe tobacco or in a limited number of pesticides. Nicotine overdose or poisoning might be serious or fatal and lead to death; caused by cardiovascular arrest, respiratory muscle paralysis, and/or central respiratory failure due to its toxic effect. Suicide by nicotine ingestion has been rarely reported due to emetic response. We present a case of suicidal nicotine poisoning. A 56-year-old man was found dead and the postmortem examination revealed no injury or disease. We confirmed a high concentration of nicotine in the toxicological test. Through scene investigation, we determined this case as a suicidal nicotine poisoning.
Autopsy ; Eating ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Nicotine* ; Pesticides ; Poisoning* ; Respiratory Insufficiency ; Respiratory Paralysis ; Suicide ; Tobacco ; Tobacco Products ; Tobacco, Smokeless

Thyrotoxicosis (thyroid crisis) is a known cause of sudden death; however, only a few cases of death resulting from thyrotoxicosis have been reported. Histopathologic examination and postmortem thyroid function tests may be helpful in postmortem diagnosis, but their usefulness seems to be limited. We report three autopsy cases associated with thyrotoxicosis.
Autopsy ; Death, Sudden ; Thyroid Crisis ; Thyroid Function Tests ; Thyrotoxicosis

Mushroom poisoning widely reported in Oriental and Western literature, is typically caused by accidental ingestion of toxic mushrooms that resemble edible mushrooms. Reports about poisoning due to species of Omphalotus, Amanita, Clitocybe, and other toxic mushroom species have been reported; toxicity depends on the mushroom species and the amount of toxin, which varies according to the climatic and environmental conditions. Symptoms of poisoning, such as unspecific nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea, as well as intestinal, hepatic and renal toxicities, also vary according to the mushroom species. Most patients recover with anti-muscarinic therapy and supportive care for nonspecific symptoms; however some cases of poisoning are fatal in children and elderly people. We report a case of sudden death due to mushroom poisoning in a 74-year-old woman, with hemorrhagic enteritis.
Agaricales* ; Aged ; Amanita ; Child ; Death, Sudden ; Diarrhea ; Eating ; Enteritis* ; Female ; Humans ; Mushroom Poisoning* ; Nausea ; Poisoning ; Vomiting

During or after acupuncture treatment, sudden or unexpected death can happen. And appropriate postmortem examination with legal autopsy is very important and critical to determine whether or not the death is caused by acupuncture treatment itself. Many complications and injuries related with acupuncture have been known, but there may be no complications and no diseases to explain sudden death like our case. Therefore through our presenting case we intend to suggest a few points at postmortem examination in acupuncture related death cases and propose to consider the possibility of acupuncture shock in the cases similar to ours.
Acupuncture ; Autopsy ; Death, Sudden ; Shock

A death due to angle grinder injuries is reported. An angle grinder is a widely used electronic device at a working place or at home. A deceased old man and an angle grinder without a protective guard were found at the living room in his house where he had been renovating. The wound of the victim's head showed an oblique laceration, skull fractures and tearing on the brain, embedded with grinder disk fragments. A small intraparenchymal hematoma was in the midbrain, which could be the cause of the fall leading to the accident. Disreard of the cause of the accident, the absence of a protective guard and removal of one hilt might have contribute to the death of the victim.
Brain ; Electronics ; Electrons ; Head ; Hematoma ; Hypogonadism ; Lacerations ; Mesencephalon ; Mitochondrial Diseases ; Ophthalmoplegia ; Skull Fractures

Various complications following acupuncture have been reported. In most cases, complications occur from the close apposition of vital organs and acupuncture sites. These complications can be avoided if acupuncturists are trained in appropriate medical science such as anatomy. However, our case is somewhat different from the norm. The deceased received acupuncture on the abdomen, provided by an acupuncturist. Unexpected symptoms occurred suddenly and she was transported to a hospital where she died of hemoperitoneum. On the postmortem examination, a well-defined vascular tumor was identified on the front of the liver, which was also cirrhotic; a few localized injuries were identified on the cystic wall of the tumor and surrounding liver parenchyma. We assumed these injuries were complications of acupuncture. Therefore, we present this case to suggest that acupuncturists should be educated to be vigilant for complications following treatment to reduce the risk of these tragedies.
Abdomen ; Acupuncture ; Autopsy ; Hemoperitoneum ; Liver

We present two cases of death associated with chronic methamphetamine abuse. Several findings were observed in chronic methamphetamine abuse; pathologic changes in the heart and coronary artery, pulmonary embolism by foreign materials (drug materials), small scars on the subcutaneous vein on the arms with skin infection and sepsis, and so on. These complications can be fatal pathological findings that explain sudden death. The toxicological test results should be carefully interpreted; the presence of methamphetamine in the toxicological results should not automatically be interpreted as acute intoxication. A meticulous postmortem examination with review of the scene, circumstances and past history is crucial in identifying these findings and interpreting them appropriately.

We present an unexpected fatal case of pulmonary embolism due to venous thrombosis after vaccination for coronavirus disease 2019 (ChAdOx1 nCov-19). The deceased was a 64-year-old woman with Alzheimer disease. The deceased had fever shortly after vaccination, and presented sudden dyspnea and died 8 days after vaccination. On postmortem examination, pulmonary embolism and venous thrombosis were noted in deep veins of both lower legs. Even though the psychomotor function of the deceased became fragile due to Alzheimer disease, the deceased was not bed-ridden, and major known risk factors related to venous thrombosis were not explicit in this case. Because there are not enough data related to vaccination and thrombosis, we hope that this case would be helpful in unraveling pathogenesis of venous thrombosis after vaccination and in determining whether there is any association between thrombosis and vaccination.

This study presents a case of sudden cardiac death due to cardiac small vessel vasculitis after coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) mRNA vaccination (BNT162b2). The deceased was a 76-year-old woman with diabetes mellitus (DM) and chronic hypertension (HTN), who experienced generalized pain for a month after the first dose of vaccination, and unexpectedly died. Postmortem examination revealed small vessel vasculitis in the heart, lungs and vaccinated site of the left arm. These features were similar to those observed in a previously reported case of a patient with COVID-19 and cardiac endotheliitis and multisystem inflammatory syndrome. In addition, DM and HTN may contribute to vaccine-induced immunologic changes and vascular dysfunction. However, further studies with additional cases are needed.