Korean Journal of Legal Medicine  2012;36(1):102-106

doi:10.7580/KoreanJLegMed.2012.36.1.102

Hemorrhagic Infarction of the Small Intestine due to Transmesenteric Hernia in an Adolescent: A Case Report.

Minsung CHOI 1 ; Jong Hyeok PARK ; Seok Hoon JEON ; Han Young LEE ; Joong Seok SEO ; Hyoung Joong KIM

Affiliations

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Keywords

transmesenteric hernia; hemorrhagic infarction; small intestine; sudden death; adolescent

Country

Republic of Korea

Language

English

Abstract

Transmesenteric hernia is so infrequent that sudden unexpected death due to this condition is a very rare occurrence. Because the disease usually occurs in pediatric populations, it is a very rarely observed in adolescents or adults. We report an autopsy case of transmesenteric hernia diagnosed postmortem in an 18-year-old boy who died suddenly after complaining of acute abdominal pains with nausea. Physical examinations, simple abdominal radiographs, and abdominal CT scans failed to provide a clear diagnosis of the illness for 37 h in the hospital. At autopsy, a small round defect of the small bowel mesentery was found, through which a long segment of the small intestine herniated, accompanied by hemorrhagic infarction induced by strangulation obstruction. We would like to present and review this rare autopsy case with medicolegal viewpoints.