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Private Autopsies

Arch Intern Med. 1998;158:947-948.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

INTRODUCTION

A WHITE MAN in his 30s fell from a ladder at work and broke his back (lumbar vertebral fracture). He was taken to a local hospital where he was given supportive treatment while being evaluated for surgical repair of the fracture. About 4 days after admission, he suddenly became dyspneic, underwent cardiopulmonary arrest, and died. During resuscitation, subxiphoid aspiration using a pericardial needle was performed, revealing blood. The clinicians felt that death resulted from hemopericardium probably due to a ruptured coronary artery aneurysm and certified the cause of death as such. The medical examiner was notified of the death but did not investigate, presumably because a natural cause of death was reported by the clinicians. An autopsy was not performed at the hospital. The body was buried a few days following death.

The patient's family assumed that death was related to the back injury, which occurred on the job, and . . . [Full Text of this Article]

AUTOPSY FINDINGS

COMMENT

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