title: Accidental choking in a patient with Treacher Collins syndrome.
abstract: A 3-year-old boy with Treacher Collins syndrome had undergone tracheostomy and placement of a secured cannula at the age of 4 months. When he was 3 years old, he manually extracted the secured cannula by himself and choked to death. Autopsy revealed upper airway obstruction with posterior deviation and mucosal hyperplasia of the radix linguae, mandibular hyperplasia, and occlusion of the artifical airway owing to intratracheal granuloma due to the long-standing tracheotomy. For safe, long-term use of a tracheostomy to maintain the airway, children with craniofacial abnormalities should be carefully supervised by their families to prevent accidental decannulation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Legal Medicine, Dokkyo University School of Medicine, Tochigi, Japan. kidomasa@dokkyomed.ac.jp
authors.forename: Masahito
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kido
authors.forename: Masahito
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hitosugi
authors.forename: Tomoko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yokoyama
authors.forename: Hitoshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kawato
authors.forename: Toshiaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nagai
authors.forename: Shogo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tokudome
mesh_terms: D000059:Accidents; D000402:Airway Obstruction / Q000209:etiology* / Q000601:surgery; D002404:Catheterization; D002675:Child, Preschool; D020878:Device Removal; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D005554:Forensic Medicine; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008342:Mandibulofacial Dysostosis / Q000150:complications*; D014139:Tracheostomy / Q000009:adverse effects*