title: An unusual and fatal case of upper gastrointestinal perforation and bleeding secondary to foreign body ingestion.
abstract: We report a fatal case of gastrointestinal perforation and hemorrhage secondary to the ingestion of a foreign body. While engaged in an amateur futsal competition, an apparently healthy young man suddenly collapsed and his respiration ceased. Autopsy revealed a 3-mm circular perforation on the gastric wall fundus with a significant amount of clotted blood within the gastric lumen. On inspection, a foreign body consisting of a bristle-like hair, later identified via electron microscopy to be a cat vibrissa, i.e. a whisker, was found along the perforation margin. Thus, the inadvertent ingestion of fine, sharp objects (even a cat whisker) can lead to gastric perforation and bleeding, which might prove fatal under given circumstances.
authors.affiliation: Department of Legal and Forensic Medicine, University of Genova, Via De' Toni 12, 16132 Genova, Italy.
authors.forename: Rosario
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Barranco
authors.affiliation: Department of Legal and Forensic Medicine, University of Genova, Via De' Toni 12, 16132 Genova, Italy.
authors.forename: Tiziana
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tacchella
authors.affiliation: Department of Legal and Forensic Medicine, University of Genova, Via De' Toni 12, 16132 Genova, Italy.
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lo Pinto
authors.affiliation: Department of Legal and Forensic Medicine, University of Genova, Via De' Toni 12, 16132 Genova, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bonsignore
authors.affiliation: Department of Legal and Forensic Medicine, University of Genova, Via De' Toni 12, 16132 Genova, Italy. Electronic address: francesco.ventura@unige.it.
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ventura
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002415:Cats; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D005547:Foreign Bodies / Q000150:complications*; D005748:Gastric Fundus / Q000293:injuries* / Q000473:pathology; D006471:Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D014738:Vibrissae; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Foreign body reaction; Gastric perforation; Gastrointestinal bleeding