Death Due to Adrenal Crisis: Case Report and a Review of the Forensic Literature.
Journal
The American journal of forensic medicine and pathology
ISSN: 1533-404X
Titre abrégé: Am J Forensic Med Pathol
Pays: United States
ID NLM: 8108948
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
01 Dec 2021
01 Dec 2021
Historique:
pubmed:
10
4
2021
medline:
23
11
2021
entrez:
9
4
2021
Statut:
ppublish
Résumé
Adrenal crisis is a life-threatening manifestation of acute adrenal insufficiency. One of the most important underlying causes is Addison disease (primary adrenal insufficiency).A 42-year-old White woman with a medical history of Addison disease on chronic steroid therapy was admitted to the emergency department due to sustained episodes of cardiopulmonary arrest. Upon admission, she was hypotensive and hypoglycemic. Despite resuscitation attempts, she developed multiorgan failure and eventually died. At autopsy, no definitive adrenal gland tissue was grossly identified, but histology detected atrophy of adrenal glands with patchy chronic inflammation. Evidence of acute pneumonia was seen. The cause of death was determined to be complications of adrenal/Addisonian crisis.A review of the literature showed only a few autopsy studies regarding deaths due to adrenal crisis. Forensic pathologists should include adrenal crisis in their differential diagnosis. Adequate medical history and pertinent autopsy findings can corroborate deaths due to adrenal crisis, but exhaustive biochemical analyses are mandatory to support the diagnosis further.
Identifiants
pubmed: 33833192
doi: 10.1097/PAF.0000000000000678
pii: 00000433-202112000-00015
doi:
Types de publication
Case Reports
Journal Article
Review
Langues
eng
Sous-ensembles de citation
IM
Pagination
392-396Informations de copyright
Copyright © 2021 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.
Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts
The authors report no conflict of interest.
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