The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic resulted from severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Variants of SARSCoV-2 have caused distinct COVID-19 surges worldwide. The Omicron variant has replaced other variants as a cause of COVID-19 in the Republic of Korea. Fortunately, COVID-19 patients infected with Omicron have a decreased disease severity. Tuberculosis (TB) remains a major public health threat worldwide, and the incidence of TB is still high in the Republic of Korea. We report the case of a deceased illegal migrant who died at home. An autopsy revealed fatal pneumonia with pulmonary TB caused by the Omicron subvariant BA.2 of SARS-CoV-2. We assumed that a superimposed SARS-CoV-2 infection caused this fatal pneumonia with a previous TB infection. After a comprehensive postmortem (PM) examination, including gross dissection, microscopic studies, PM computed tomography, and PM laboratory tests, the cause of death was determined to be pneumonia, and the death manner was natural. We present this case with a comprehensive PM examination from the perspective of forensic pathology and the public healthcare system.
Conclusion: CRR 3 65 % was the independent prognostic factor for better prognosis after NACT in patients with BRPC or LAPC. Decrease of CA19-9 after NACT was prognostic indicator as well as normalization of CA 19-9 after NACT or surgery.
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a manifestation of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), and its major symptoms include pulmonary complications, such as pneumonia. However, it also involves the cardiovascular system and the developed myocarditis can lead to sudden unexpected death. Herein, we present a case in which a patient died four days after release from isolation due to SARS-CoV-2 infection. SARS-CoV-2 was confirmed again during postmortem (PM) inspection at the scene of death. Autopsy revealed myocarditis and evidence of pulmonary involvement with SARS-CoV-2. Pathological examination revealed myocardial perivascular infiltration of lymphocytes and macrophages with multifocally injured cardiomyocytes. The pathological findings of COVID-19–induced myocarditis differ from those of other viral myocarditis, and we assume that different pathophysiological mechanisms could have been responsible for this manifestation. After a comprehensive PM examination, including gross dissection, microscopic examination, PM computed tomography, and PM laboratory tests, the cause and manner of death were determined to be myocarditis caused by COVID-19 and naturally, respectively. This case highlights the significance of autopsy and comprehensive PM examinations in both forensic and public healthcare systems.
Forensic autopsy is performed to investigate a death. However, this is difficult in some cases, particularly in putrefied bodies. Pulmonary ossification is a rare pathological process, characterized by progressive and metaplastic ossification, which leads to the formation of small bony fragments in the pulmonary tissue. This condition can develop within the pulmonary tissues that are injured due to various causes. Metastatic and dystrophic calcification occur in normal tissues in conditions of deranged calcium metabolism and dead or degenerative tissue, respectively. Here, we describe the case of a 54-year-old man who lived alone and whose putrefied body was discovered by his landlord. A forensic pathologist identified needle-like sharp materials in both the lower lobes of the lungs during autopsy. Microscopic examination revealed dendriform pulmonary ossification with calcification. After autopsy, his medical history, including chronic kidney disease, was recorded by forensic pathologist. A review of his past medical history and comprehensive postmortem examination findings of the gross dissection, microscopic examination, and postmortem laboratory tests led to the determination of the cause of death as renal problems.
A malignancy is a fatal condition that could occur through various mechanisms. Forensic pathologists sometimes find unexpected findings during autopsy and post-mortem (PM) tests. Colorectal cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths worldwide. The deceased was a 64-year-old man with a medical history of right hemicolectomy due to colon cancer approximately two years earlier. He was found dead at his home. He was admitted to the hospital due to subdural hemorrhage (SDH) two days prior to his demise and was discharged without the permission of the doctor after one day of hospitalization. An autopsy was performed within two days of his death. After gross dissection, the cause and manner of death were assumed to be SDH and unnatural death, respectively. Microscopic examination revealed fresh SDH and dural metastasis of signet-ring cell carcinoma. Furthermore, metastasis was identified in the heart, stomach, and peritoneum. Immunohistochemical examination revealed cancer cells to originate from the colon. After meticulous PM examination, including gross dissection, microscopic examination, PM computed tomography, and PM laboratory tests, the cause and manner of death were determined as SDH and natural death, respectively. This case report highlights the importance of comprehensive PM evaluation for investigating death.
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