Death due to obstruction of the upper airways caused by edema of the laryngeal mucosa in the course of hereditary angioedema

Piotr Arkuszewski; Ewa Meissner; Stefan Szram

doi:10.1016/j.forsciint.2015.07.025

Death due to obstruction of the upper airways caused by edema of the laryngeal mucosa in the course of hereditary angioedema

Forensic Sci Int. 2015 Sep:254:e22-4. doi: 10.1016/j.forsciint.2015.07.025. Epub 2015 Jul 17.

Authors

Piotr Arkuszewski¹, Ewa Meissner², Stefan Szram³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Forensic Medicine, Medical University of Lodz, Poland. Electronic address: arkusz@op.pl.
² Department of Forensic Medicine, Medical University of Lodz, Poland.
³ Department of Medico-Legal and Insurance Certification, Medical University of Lodz, Poland.

PMID: 26228930
DOI: 10.1016/j.forsciint.2015.07.025

Abstract

A rare case of death of a young man due to airway obstruction in the course of angioedema (Quincke's edema). Type I hereditary angioedema due to C1 esterase inhibitor deficiency had been diagnosed in the man while he was alive. The information concerning the man's health state was given in the Public Prosecutor's decision ordering medico legal autopsy, which was extremely helpful in recognizing the cause of death.

Keywords: Airway obstruction; Hereditary angioedema; Laryngeal edema.

Publication types

Case Reports

MeSH terms

Adult
Airway Obstruction / etiology*
Hereditary Angioedema Types I and II / complications*
Humans
Laryngeal Edema / complications
Laryngeal Edema / etiology
Laryngeal Edema / pathology*
Male