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Amniotic fluid embolism as cause of death in a car accident--a case report

Juha Rainio1, Antti Penttilä

  • 1Department of Forensic Medicine, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 40, Kytösuontie 11, FIN-00014 Helsinki, Finland. juha.rainio@helsinki.fi

Forensic Science International
|November 12, 2003
PubMed

Amniotic fluid embolism (AFE), a relatively rare complication in pregnancy, has a high mortality rate. We describe a case of a 38-week pregnant woman with such an embolism leading to almost immediate death after a blunt abdominal trauma inflicted in a motor vehicle accident and probably associated with improper positioning of a seat belt. It has been assumed that the pathophysiology of amniotic fluid embolism is related to an anaphylactoid reaction and that mast cell degranulation indicates this mechanism. Moreover, immunohistochemical antitryptase staining of pulmonary tissue samples in our case revealed mast cell degranulation.

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