Deaths occurring in police custody have dominated public discourse over recent years. However, deaths occurring after law enforcement have initiated nonphysical contact but before active restraint or containment lie outside the strict definition of "in custody." These "antecustodial" deaths demonstrate a unique population and interaction with law enforcement.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMisoprostol is a prostaglandin analog commonly used to induce termination of pregnancy. Clandestine home terminations complicate forensic fetal autopsy when a history of misoprostol use is withheld and the gross and histologic findings are sparse, as is often the case. One hundred thirty-two placentas with no vaginal misoprostol use, low-dose misoprostol use, and high-dose misoprostol use were reviewed for the presence, volume, and locations of microcrystalline cellulose and crospovidone, common tablet fillers in misoprostol tablets.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGlycogen storage disease type IV (GSD IV; Andersen's disease) is a rare autosomal recessive disorder that results from defects in the gene (3p12.2) and subsequent deficiencies of glycogen branching. We report a case of GSD IV diagnosed at autopsy in a 35 4/7 weeks gestational age female neonate that died shortly after birth.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAcute intravascular hemolysis is a rare and often lethal complication of Clostridium perfringens septicemia.Clostridium perfringens is an anaerobic, gram-positive spore-forming rod which is commonly implicated in cases of food poisoning, gas gangrene, and severe hemolytic anemia in humans via the alpha-toxin (phospholipase C). We report an interesting and rare case of a 72-year-old woman who developed massive intravascular hemolysis secondary to C perfringens bacteremia in the setting of poorly differentiated high-grade endometrial malignancy.
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