title: Fatal lower extremity varicose vein rupture.
abstract: Varicose vein rupture is a rare cause of death, although varicosities are a common pathology. We present three cases of sudden death due to varicose vein rupture. After a review of the literature, the case circumstances and the findings of imaging examination, performed in two cases, are presented. One of them had undergone a post-mortem computed tomography angiography (PMCTA), and one a PMCTA as well as a post-mortem magnetic resonance (PMMR) imaging prior to conventional autopsy. One of the cases presented herein is, to our knowledge, the youngest known fatality due to varicose vein rupture.
authors.affiliation: Center of Forensic Imaging and Virtopsy, Institute of Forensic Medicine, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland. garyfalia.ampanozi@irm.unibe.ch
authors.forename: Garyfalia
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ampanozi
authors.forename: Ulrich
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Preiss
authors.forename: Gary M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Hatch
authors.forename: Wolf Dieter
authors.initials: WD
authors.lastname: Zech
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ketterer
authors.forename: Stephan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bolliger
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Thali
authors.forename: Thomas D
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: Ruder
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000792:Angiography / Q000379:methods; D001344:Autopsy; D003645:Death, Sudden / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology*; D003952:Diagnostic Imaging / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D049429:Forensic Pathology / Q000379:methods; D006470:Hemorrhage / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D007866:Leg / Q000098:blood supply*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012421:Rupture / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D014648:Varicose Veins / Q000473:pathology*