Postmortem revelation of sickle cell disease following fatal episode of acute bronchial asthma

• Published in: Forensic science international 2002-03, Vol.126 (1), p.48-52
• Main Authors: de la Grandmaison, G.Lorin, Paraire, F.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acidosis; Acute Disease; Adult; Airway management; Anaphylaxis; Anaphylaxis - complications; Anaphylaxis - pathology; Anemia, Sickle Cell - complications; Anemia, Sickle Cell - pathology; Asthma; Asthma - complications; Asthma - pathology; Asymptomatic; Autopsies; Autopsy; Biological and medical sciences; Blood; Case reports; Cause of Death; Death; Death, Sudden - etiology; Diagnosis, Differential; Drug overdose; Dyspnea; Electrophoresis; Fatalities; Food allergies; Food-induced anaphylaxis; Forensic medicine; Hemoglobin; Humans; Hypotheses; Hypoxia; Lesions; Lungs; Male; Medical sciences; Morphology; Mortality; Pneumology; Public health. Hygiene; Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine; Pulmonary arteries; Respiration; Respiratory system : syndromes and miscellaneous diseases; Sickle cell anemia; Sickle cell disease; Sickle cell trait; Sudden death
• ISSN: 0379-0738; 1872-6283
• DOI: 10.1016/S0379-0738(02)00028-2

A 19-year-old black male with previous history of mild bronchial asthma presented sudden dyspnea and died in a state of respiratory distress in spite of resuscitation attempts. Autopsy showed typical lesions of acute bronchial asthma in a context of long-standing asthma associated with a massive and disseminated intravascular sickling. Hemoglobin electrophoresis diagnosed heterozygous sickle cell disease. This rare case raises the problem of the accuracy of death certificate, especially the difficulties to distinguish postmortem lesions as the underlying cause of death or the contributory cause of death.