Congenital anomalies of the ribs: an autopsy case report

We describe a medico-legal autopsy case of a three-day newborn girl. This was the fifth pregnancy of the mother who was 34 years at that time. Her parents were non-consanguineous. There was no family history of congenital abnormalities. Her mother did not smoke or drink and did not recall toxic exposure during the pregnancy. The birth weight and physical examination was normal. The child died postnatal on the third day, with haemoptysis at home. To clarify the exact cause of death, the child was sent to the Council of Forensic Medicine. At the autopsy, in the internal observation, the bilateral first ribs were wide, the sternal extremity of the left second rib was bifid, the eighth ribs were bilaterally connected to the sternum via costal cartilages. Microscopic pathological findings were not found. Analyses of the deceased's blood and urine were negative for drugs. In this case, genetic study was not done. Based on all information available, the cause of death was not definitely determined (Fig. 1, Ref. 9).