Citation

Nadjem H, Pollak S, Windisch W, Perdekamp MG, Thierauf A. Forensic Sci. Int. 2010; 200(1-3): e25-9.

Affiliation

Institute of Legal Medicine, Freiburg University Medical Centre, Albertstrasse 9, D-79104 Freiburg, Germany.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2010, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.forsciint.2010.04.011

PMID

20447783

Abstract

Tooth aspiration in adulthood is an uncommon autopsy finding. The paper presents two cases in which maxillary incisors had been avulsed and inhaled during hospital treatment and in the course of maxillofacial trauma, respectively. In the first case, repeated attempts to remove the aspirated tooth by means of flexible bronchoscopy led to perforation of the bronchial wall with consecutive bleeding into the deep airways and fatal asphyxia. In the second case, the fact of tooth aspiration remained undetected throughout the 3-day survival time until death from craniocerebral trauma. The paper points out the forensic aspects of tooth aspiration against the background of the relevant clinical literature.

Language: en