Coprophagic café coronary.
A 74-year-old man who had been institutionalized for severe multiinfarct dementia was found dead in bed. He had a history of compulsive ingestion of food and other materials, including feces. At autopsy, a 65-g bolus of fecal material was impacted within the laryngopharynx, occluding the inlet of the larynx. This case demonstrates an unusual coprophagic variant of cafe coronary syndrome and emphasizes that demented individuals with pica are at risk of sudden death from ingestion of a wide variety of materials, including, but not limited to, food.
Byard
R W
RW
Forensic Science Centre, Adelaide, Australia. byardr01@forensic.sa.gov.au
D000368:Aged; D000402:Airway Obstruction / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology*; D001344:Autopsy; D003645:Death, Sudden; D015161:Dementia, Multi-Infarct; D064106:Human Coprophagia / Q000150:complications*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male