Intrathoracic vagus nerve neurofibroma and sudden death in a patient with neurofibromatosis.

A 21 year old man with type 1 neurofibromatosis was found dead in the middle of the night. Postmortem examination revealed a large neurofibroma arising from the right intrathoracic vagus nerve, which might have contributed to his sudden death.

Fatal massive upper respiratory tract haemorrhage: an unusual complication of localized amyloidosis of the larynx.

Localized amyloidosis of the larynx is usually described as a non-bleeding lesion. We report a patient with localized laryngeal amyloidosis who developed a massive upper respiratory tract haemorrhage and died. This potentially fatal complication of localized amyloidosis of the larynx merits recognition as the disease could be controlled in most instances by surgical excision of the amyloid deposit.

A study on the correlation of blood and vitreous humour alcohol levels in the late absorption and elimination phases.

By using the urine:blood alcohol level ratio as the indicator, the correlation of blood alcohol level (B) and vitreous humour alcohol level (V) in the late absorption and elimination phases was studied. It was found to be good (r = 0.98) and B = 0.76V + 4.7. It is suggested that this equation can safely be used to estimate the minimum blood alcohol level where cadaveric blood is unsuitable or unavailable for analysis and that the B/V ratio can be used to infer the phase in which death occurred where urine is not available.

Identification of unknown human remains by comparison of antemortem and postmortem radiographs.

The identification of unknown human remains by comparison of ante mortem and post mortem radiographs has found wide acceptance in recent years. This report documents two recent cases in Hong Kong in which unequivocal positive identifications were achieved by comparison of radiographs. In both cases, comparison of radiographs was the only available means of establishment of personal identity. The first case involved the identification of a very badly burned body of a 22-year-old male by the matching of the ante mortem and post mortem radiographic images of the cranial base (in particular the sella turcica), hard palate, paranasal air sinuses, mastoid air cells, the lambdoid suture, and the upper molar teeth as revealed on comparable lateral skull films. The second was the identification of a deliberately mutilated torso of a 28-year-old female by comparison of the radiographic images of the lumbar spine, pelvis, and head of the femur as revealed on plain abdominal films taken before and after death. While evidence of injury or surgery did not figure in either of the identifications, the presence of a mild scoliosis and the absence of the twelfth ribs aided identification in the latter case. Emphasis is placed in this account on the value of radiographic comparison as a means of identification because it draws upon the matching of intricate and highly individual patterns of external and internal bony anatomy that are stable over long periods of time. In cases where ante mortem radiographs and photographs are available, establishment of personal identity by comparison of radiographs is deemed preferable to identification by photographic superimposition because radiographic comparison permits the matching of a potentially larger number of unique anatomical features and is less time consuming and technically exacting.