Legal Medical Necropsy in a Case of Unexpected Death of an Infant

Authors

  • Ana Reynaldo Díaz Hospital General Docente “Dr. Ernesto Guevara de la Serna”, Las Tunas, Cuba.
  • Mariolis Hernández Osorio Hospital General Docente “Dr. Ernesto Guevara de la Serna”, Las Tunas, Cuba.
  • Darién M. Otero González Hospital General Docente “Dr. Ernesto Guevara de la Serna”, Las Tunas, Cuba.

Keywords:

Legal medical necropsy; sudden infant death syndrome; risk factors.

Abstract

The case of a 3-month-old deceased infant, who underwent an autopsy by the Department of Legal Medicine is presented, given the age of the infant and the suspicion of possible bronchoaspiration due to the history of sudden death while she slept, after having eaten food (milk) and by the fact that when she was found deceased, she had whitish foam coming out of her mouth and nose; however, it could be corroborated that this was not the case: the autopsy showed totally nonspecific alterations and the ancillary examinations were negative. After the complete postmortem study, it was not possible to explain the death, so once the violent origin of death (traumatic or not) was ruled out, the diagnosis of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) was made. This article should become an educational alert for parents, relatives, pediatricians and family doctors because, although the etiopathogenesis of SIDS is currently still unknown, there are risk factors that can be controlled or minimized.

References

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Gorrita Pérez, R.R., Román Lafont, J. (2013). Síndrome de Muerte Súbita del lactante: Un tema para la polémica. Revista de Ciencias Médicas de La Habana, 19(3), 110–8. Recuperado de https://www.medigraphic.com/pdfs/revciemedhab/cmh-2013/cmh133n.pdf

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Vargas, A. E., (2010). Medicina Legal (3ra ed). México: Trillas.

Published

2020-03-22

How to Cite

Reynaldo Díaz, A., Hernández Osorio, M. ., & Otero González, D. M. . (2020). Legal Medical Necropsy in a Case of Unexpected Death of an Infant. Revista Científica Hallazgos21, 5(1), 111–116. Retrieved from https://revistas.pucese.edu.ec/hallazgos21/article/view/403