A case of postoperative hemorrhage after a hysterectomy in which a bleeding point of the left uterine artery was identified by postmortem angiography.
We report a case of fatal postoperative hemorrhage caused by failure to ligate the left uterine artery during a hysterectomy in a 42-year-old woman, as demonstrated postmortem by conventional autopsy methods and confirmed by angiography. Angiography was confirmed to be a useful adjunctive technique for postmortem diagnosis and localization of the bleeding point. In cases of suspected fatal postoperative hemorrhage, postmortem angiography may be of value to the forensic pathologist.
Kominato
Yoshihiko
Y
Department of Legal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Toyama Medical and Pharmaceutical University, 2630 Sugitani, Toyama-shi, 930-0194 Japan. kominato@med.gumma-u.ac.jp
Fujikura
Takashi
T
Hata
Yukiko
Y
Matsui
Ken-Ichi
K
Takizawa
Hisao
H
D000328:Adult; D000792:Angiography; D001158:Arteries; D005260:Female; D005554:Forensic Medicine; D006801:Humans; D007044:Hysterectomy / Q000009:adverse effects*; D019106:Postoperative Hemorrhage / Q000209:etiology*; D014592:Uterine Hemorrhage / Q000209:etiology*; D014599:Uterus / Q000098:blood supply*