Sudden death from acute epiglottitis in a toddler

TY - JOUR

T1 - Sudden death from acute epiglottitis in a toddler

AU - Schröder, Ann Sophie

AU - Edler, Carolin

AU - Sperhake, Jan Peter

PY - 2018/12

Y1 - 2018/12

N2 - The bacterium Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) can cause severe and life-threatening infections such as epiglottitis and meningitis. The course of the disease can be very rapid, resulting in sudden death. The incidence of Hib-induced epiglottitis in children has declined since the introduction of vaccinations in countries where such vaccinations are routinely administered. We herein present a case involving a 2.5-year-old boy who died suddenly at home. He had developed acute-onset throat and abdominal pain and a high fever. Despite an emergency cricothyrotomy due to a complicated intubation because of a massively swollen epiglottis, the efforts to resuscitate the child were unsuccessful. He was a previously healthy toddler, but he had not yet been vaccinated. Microbiologic analysis revealed the pathogenic bacterium Hib. The main autopsy finding was acute epiglottitis with swelling and cherry-red coloring of the epiglottis. Postmortem cultures of the cerebrospinal fluid and heart blood also revealed Hib as the pathogenic agent. Acute pneumonia was also diagnosed microscopically. The present report describes a rare case of Hib-induced acute epiglottitis and presents the key findings of forensic investigations in this type of disease.

AB - The bacterium Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) can cause severe and life-threatening infections such as epiglottitis and meningitis. The course of the disease can be very rapid, resulting in sudden death. The incidence of Hib-induced epiglottitis in children has declined since the introduction of vaccinations in countries where such vaccinations are routinely administered. We herein present a case involving a 2.5-year-old boy who died suddenly at home. He had developed acute-onset throat and abdominal pain and a high fever. Despite an emergency cricothyrotomy due to a complicated intubation because of a massively swollen epiglottis, the efforts to resuscitate the child were unsuccessful. He was a previously healthy toddler, but he had not yet been vaccinated. Microbiologic analysis revealed the pathogenic bacterium Hib. The main autopsy finding was acute epiglottitis with swelling and cherry-red coloring of the epiglottis. Postmortem cultures of the cerebrospinal fluid and heart blood also revealed Hib as the pathogenic agent. Acute pneumonia was also diagnosed microscopically. The present report describes a rare case of Hib-induced acute epiglottitis and presents the key findings of forensic investigations in this type of disease.

KW - Journal Article

U2 - 10.1007/s12024-018-9992-8

DO - 10.1007/s12024-018-9992-8

M3 - SCORING: Journal article

C2 - 29926438

VL - 14

SP - 555

EP - 557

JO - FORENSIC SCI MED PAT

JF - FORENSIC SCI MED PAT

SN - 1547-769X

IS - 4

ER -