[A case of fatal amniotic fluid embolism]

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Modeling Encephalopathy of Prematurity Using Prenatal Hypoxia-ischemia with Intra-amniotic Lipopolysaccharide in Rats
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Modeling Encephalopathy of Prematurity Using Prenatal Hypoxia-ischemia with Intra-amniotic Lipopolysaccharide in Rats

Published on: November 20, 2015

H Nadjem1, M Bohnert, S Pollak

  • 1Institut für Rechtsmedizin, Universität Freiburg/Br.

Archiv Fur Kriminologie
|June 21, 2001
PubMed

A 31-year-old pregnant woman (multipara), who was near the expected date of birth, was found dead in the joint flat by her partner. She was lying beside the bed and showed burns on the front of the body caused postmortem by contact with a radiator. Autopsy revealed a rupture of the fetal membranes, the inner layers of the uterus and a large vein. After centrifugation, the supernatant of the blood from the right half of the heart was turbid and contained small corpuscular amniotic fluid components. The diagnosis of amniotic fluid embolism could be confirmed histologically. In the pulmonary vessels of the mother meconium, lanugo hairs and epidermic scales could be demonstrated; in addition the fetal horny lamellae were confirmed immunohistochemically (using monoclonal antibody against cytokeratin).

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