[Death from ammonia poisoning: anatomo-pathologic features]

The authors report the results of a chronological study of anatomo-pathological aspects observed in the autopsy of subjects who died after a heavy ammonia poisoning. It is about a retrospective study based on the medico-legal autopsies of 91 cases of death an industrial ammonia tank explosion which occurred inside a factory in Dakar (SONACOS), on the 24th of March 1992. The census of the dead has been made during the three months following the explosion. The victims were between 3 months and 74 years old. Among the 91 dead there were 15 women and 76 of the male sex. The recent lesions were discovered in the subjects who died during the first three days. The consisted of some extended cutaneomucous burns, a sharp lung oedema sometimes associated with a pulmonary emphysema. Later on, results show that deaths are rather caused by the after effects of a pneumopathy (pulmonary infection, bronchiectasis, pulmonary fibrosis). Ammonia belong to the irritating and caustic gas. The intensity of the lesions and the mortal risk are proportional to the quantity of gas per m3 of air. If the lesions described in our research have similarities with the published description, the latter mentions only a few cases of death. The originality of our series is particularly found in the intensity of the lesions and the number of deaths. This shows the insufficiency of both means of prevention and emergency assistance.