When is myocarditis indeed the cause of death?
Details
Serval ID
serval:BIB_957083885A88
Type
Article: article from journal or magazin.
Collection
Publications
Institution
Title
When is myocarditis indeed the cause of death?
Journal
Forensic science international
ISSN
1872-6283 (Electronic)
ISSN-L
0379-0738
Publication state
Published
Issued date
04/2018
Peer-reviewed
Oui
Volume
285
Pages
72-76
Language
english
Notes
Publication types: Journal Article ; Multicenter Study
Publication Status: ppublish
Publication Status: ppublish
Abstract
Attribution of death to myocarditis continues to be a controversial issue in forensic pathology, despite the existence of established histopathological criteria as well as complementary investigations. The aim of the study was two-fold: (a) to retrospectively analyse the data obtained from a series of clinical and forensic autopsies in order to assess the number of cases with death attributed to myocarditis, and (b) to reevaluate these cases in order to assess how properly the histopathological diagnosis of myocarditis conformed to established criteria and therefore how accurately these were used on the basis of all postmortem investigation findings to conclude the cause of death. 2474 clinical and forensic autopsies were taken into consideration. Myocarditis was recorded as the official, underlying cause of death in 48 cases. Of those, 8 cases were considered to accurately conform to the histopathological Dallas criteria for the presence of myocarditis and could therefore be classified as cases of fatal myocarditis. In 19 out of 48 cases, description of focal myocarditis was considered to accurately fulfill the histopathological Dallas criteria for the presence of myocarditis. However, data provided by histological analysis and virology testing result reevaluation allowed alternative causes of death to be speculated. In another 21 out of 48 cases, description of focal myocardial inflammation was considered to inaccurately meet the histopathological Dallas criteria for the presence of myocarditis. The findings of our own study appear to be in agreement with previous observations in similar study groups and highlight that since myocarditis may occur in association with many diseases, a great deal of evidence is required before settling on categorical conclusions.
Keywords
Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Case-Control Studies, Child, Child, Preschool, Female, Forensic Pathology, Humans, Infant, Male, Middle Aged, Myocarditis/diagnosis, Myocarditis/mortality, Myocardium/pathology, Myocytes, Cardiac/pathology, Necrosis, Organ Size, Pericardial Effusion/pathology, Retrospective Studies, Young Adult, Autopsy, Cause of death, Histopathology, Incidence, Myocarditis
Pubmed
Web of science
Create date
20/02/2018 9:10
Last modification date
20/08/2019 15:57