title: An autopsy case of prolonged asphyxial death caused by the impacted denture in the esophagus.
abstract: A foreign body impacted in the esophagus is not a rare incident among adults or children. In adults, a dental prosthesis is prone to become impacted in the esophagus. The diagnostic difficulty of this often causes a delay in its removal, which can lead to serious complications, including death. This report describes the autopsy case of a man who died of prolonged asphyxiation induced by the delayed removal of an impacted denture, which was misdiagnosed on his first visit notwithstanding that a part of the denture could be seen on X-rays. Cases in which an impacted denture led to death have rarely been reported in contrast to numerous papers about recovered cases.
authors.affiliation: Division of Legal Medicine, Department of Community Preventive Medicine, Niigata University Graduate School of Medicine and Dental Sciences, Niigata 951-8510, Japan.
authors.forename: Kazuhisa
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Funayama
authors.affiliation: Department of Legal Medicine, Shimane University Faculty of Medicine, 89-1 Enya, Izumo, Shimane 693-8501, Japan.
authors.forename: Junko
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fujihara
authors.affiliation: Department of Legal Medicine, Shimane University Faculty of Medicine, 89-1 Enya, Izumo, Shimane 693-8501, Japan.
authors.forename: Haruo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Takeshita
authors.affiliation: Division of Legal Medicine, Department of Community Preventive Medicine, Niigata University Graduate School of Medicine and Dental Sciences, Niigata 951-8510, Japan. Electronic address: hisakazu@med.niigata-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Hisakazu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Takatsuka
mesh_terms: D000437:Alcoholism; D001237:Asphyxia / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology*; D001344:Autopsy; D002423:Cause of Death; D003832:Denture, Partial, Removable / Q000009:adverse effects*; D004947:Esophagus / Q000473:pathology*; D005547:Foreign Bodies / Q000150:complications*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010996:Pleural Effusion / Q000473:pathology; D012421:Rupture
keywords: Autopsy; Denture; Esophagus; Foreign body impaction; Misdiagnosis; Prolonged asphyxia