title: Sudden death due to asphyxia by esophageal polyp: two case reports and review of asphyxial deaths.
abstract: Asphyxia, not an uncommon cause of sudden death, may result from numerous etiologies. Foreign-body aspiration and strangulation are 2 extrinsic causes. Airway obstruction may also be caused by laryngeal edema, asthma, infection, or anaphylaxis. Chronic causes of asphyxia include musculoskeletal diseases (eg, muscular dystrophy, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), neurologic disorders (eg, myasthenia gravis, multiple sclerosis), respiratory disease (eg, emphysema, chronic bronchitis), or tumors. The manner of death in cases of asphyxiation may be natural, accidental, homicide, or suicide. For the death investigator, determining the cause and manner of death can often be quite challenging. We report here 2 cases of an esophageal fibrovascular polyp causing sudden asphyxial death, review of the literature, and discussion of other differential diagnoses in the case of asphyxial death.
authors.affiliation: Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina 29425, USA. rodgerc@musc.edu
authors.forename: Christina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Carrick
authors.forename: Kim A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Collins
authors.forename: C Jeff
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Joseph A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Prahlow
authors.forename: Jeffrey J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Barnard
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000402:Airway Obstruction / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality; D001237:Asphyxia / Q000209:etiology* / Q000401:mortality; D003645:Death, Sudden / Q000209:etiology*; D004935:Esophageal Diseases / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D049429:Forensic Pathology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011127:Polyps / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology; D011247:Pregnancy