The occurrence of HIV antibodies in drug addicts autopsied at the University Institute of Forensic Medicine in Copenhagen in 1987.

In 1987 a total of 89 intravenous drug addicts were admitted to medico-legal autopsy at the University Institute of Forensic Medicine in Copenhagen. Totally 10 cases were reactive by the Elisa test and five of these, or 7% of the total material tested, could be confirmed by the immuno-blotting test. The other five cases must be considered as false positive, possibly due to antibodies against cellular antigens. Among the five real positive cases, four were known before-hand while in one case the HIV-positivity was not known. These findings - together with the possibility of false negative reactions - especially regarding persons with acute HIV-infection, requires special precautionary measures when autopsies of drug addicts are performed.

Endogenous alcohol production by intestinal fermentation in sudden infant death.

In some cases of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) the intestinal flora was found to be dominated by Candida albicans. Microbiologic investigations of the various organs showed the occasional presence of different Candida species, but not in the form of massive growth as in sepsis. There is no basis to assume that the activity of yeasts, first of all of Candida albicans, is a contributory factor in the occurrence of SIDS. Candida albicans was shown to produce alcohol from glucose at a rate of maximally 1 mg of alcohol per gram of intestinal content per hour. It is concluded that the intestinal production of alcohol in vivo from cases showing a Candida albicans dominated intestinal flora will not be able to surpass the normal alcohol metabolizing capacity of the liver. Thus, measurable concentrations of alcohol in the blood from such cases cannot be expected.

Reye's syndrome in a child on long-term salicylate medication.

A case of Reye's syndrome in a four-year-old child on long-term salicylate medication for rheumatoid arthritis is reported. Severe fatty changes of the liver, lipid vacuolation in the renal proximal tubules, and severe brain oedema were the prominent postmortem findings. Symptoms of a trivial infection and vomiting just before death added to the resemblance of this case to Reye's syndrome.

Isolation of Sporothrix fungorum from a 500-year-old mummy found in Greenland.

A 500-year-old mummy of a seven-month-old Eskimo infant recently removed from a tomb north of Umanak presented problems of preservation. Among these was fungal coating on the skin, especially on the face. The fungus was isolated and diagnosed as a Sporothrix fungorum. The skin was successfully treated with nystatine. The species Sporothrix fungorum isolated is considered to be very rare, having been reported previously only from Europe and South Africa, but never from Greenland.

Aniridia, cataract and gonadoblastoma in a mentally retarded girl with deletion of chromosome II. A clinicopathological case report.

A case of bilateral aniridia, cataract and mental deficiency is described in a girl with an interstitial deletion of the short arm of chromosome 11. The child died of pneumonia and on autopsy bilateral gonadoblastoma was detected, but no Wilms' tumour. Partial deletion of the short arm of chromosome 11 seems to be a clinically recognizable syndrome with aniridia, cataract and renal, gonadal or genital dysmorphogenesis.

Cot death and the third branchial arch.

Congenital anomalies of the parathyroids in cases of cot death have been reported by several workers. Carotid-body hypoplasia also has been noted in typical cases of cot death. Neurally conditioned airway occlusion at the oropharyngeal level has been postulated as a precipitating factor of cot death. All these lines of evidence involve structures derived from the third branchial arch, and it is suggested that developmental arrest of this arch in early gestation may be the pathandemical basis of cot death.