Forensic Postmortem Examination of Victims of Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claire Lathers ◽  
Paul Schraeder ◽  
Steven Koehler ◽  
Cyril Wecht
2005 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 240-244 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris Wixom ◽  
Amy E. Chadwick ◽  
Henry F. Krous

We report a case of sudden, unexpected death associated with meningioangiomatosis in a 13-year-old, previously healthy male without a history of seizures, neurologic deficits, or clinical stigmata of neurofibromatosis. There was no family history of neurofibromatosis. The postmortem examination showed a 5-cm mass involving the right posterior frontal and orbital frontal cortex that had microscopic features diagnostic of meningioangiomatosis. Because no other cause of death was found, we postulate that he likely died as a result of a seizure secondary to meningioangiomatosis.


2005 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 307-319 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henry F Krous ◽  
Amy E. Chadwick ◽  
Laura Crandall ◽  
Julie M. Nadeau-Manning

Sudden unexplained death in childhood (SUDC) is rare, with a reported incidence in the United States of 1.5 deaths per 100,000 live births compared with 56 deaths per 100,000 live births for sudden infant death syndrome in 2001. The objectives of this study include a proposal for a general definition for SUDC and presentation of 36 cases of SUDC and 14 cases of sudden unexpected death in childhood. Cases were accrued through referrals or unsolicited via our Web page ( www.sudc.org ). Our analyses tentatively suggest a SUDC profile characterized by cases being 1 to 3 years in age, predominantly male, and frequently having a personal and family history of seizures that are often associated with a fever. A history of recent minor head trauma is not uncommon. They are usually born at term as singletons and occasionally have a family history of sudden infant death syndrome or SUDC. Most are found prone, often with their face straight down into the sleep surface. Minor findings are commonly seen at postmortem examination but do not explain their deaths. Comprehensive review of the medical history and circumstances of death and performance of a complete postmortem examination including ancillary studies and extensive histologic sampling of the brain are critical in determining the cause of death in these cases of sudden unexpected childhood death. Legislation enabling research and formation of a multicenter research team is recommended to unravel the mystery of SUDC.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Svetlana Serdyuk ◽  
Karapet V. Davtyan ◽  
Sergey G. Burd ◽  
Oksana M. Drapkina ◽  
Sergey A. Boytsov ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 336-339
Author(s):  
Julia Blakey ◽  
Carmen Jerry ◽  
Ana da Silva ◽  
Simone Stoute

A 7-y-old backyard Leghorn chicken ( Gallus domesticus) was submitted to the California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory System (CAHFS)–Turlock branch for postmortem examination, with a history of unexpected death. At postmortem examination, a hemorrhagic soft tissue mass was observed in the cervical region. Microscopically, a densely cellular neoplasm of polygonal epithelial cells and small lymphocytes was observed. The microscopic features of the neoplasm in combination with positive immunohistochemistry for pancytokeratin and CD3 were used to classify the lesion as a thymoma. Thymoma was diagnosed in only 5 birds submitted to CAHFS from 1990 to 2019. Thymoma has been described only rarely in birds, and is an unusual diagnosis in backyard chickens.


2021 ◽  
pp. 101931
Author(s):  
Shoken Suzuki ◽  
Maki Ohtani ◽  
Yuhei Matsuo ◽  
Makoto Yoshida ◽  
Akiteru Goto ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (6) ◽  
pp. 2790
Author(s):  
Steffan Noe Christiansen ◽  
Stine Bøttcher Jacobsen ◽  
Jeppe Dyrberg Andersen ◽  
Marie-Louise Kampmann ◽  
Linea Christine Trudsø ◽  
...  

Sudden cardiac death (SCD) is a diagnostic challenge in forensic medicine. In a relatively large proportion of the SCDs, the deaths remain unexplained after autopsy. This challenge is likely caused by unknown disease mechanisms. Changes in DNA methylation have been associated with several heart diseases, but the role of DNA methylation in SCD is unknown. In this study, we investigated DNA methylation in two SCD subtypes, sudden unexplained death (SUD) and sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP). We assessed DNA methylation of more than 850,000 positions in cardiac tissue from nine SUD and 14 SUDEP cases using the Illumina Infinium MethylationEPIC BeadChip. In total, six differently methylated regions (DMRs) between the SUD and SUDEP cases were identified. The DMRs were located in proximity to or overlapping genes encoding proteins that are a part of the glutathione S-transferase (GST) superfamily. Whole genome sequencing (WGS) showed that the DNA methylation alterations were not caused by genetic changes, while whole transcriptome sequencing (WTS) showed that DNA methylation was associated with expression levels of the GSTT1 gene. In conclusion, our results indicate that cardiac DNA methylation is similar in SUD and SUDEP, but with regional differential methylation in proximity to GST genes.


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