Forensic evaluation of sudden death due to tuberculosis

J Forensic Sci. 2008 Jul;53(4):962-4. doi: 10.1111/j.1556-4029.2008.00763.x.

Abstract

The emergence of drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) poses a major threat to TB control efforts. We report a case of a 50-year-old man with pulmonary TB. The scene investigation had initially suspected for homicide; however, the result of medico-legal autopsy demonstrated natural cause of death. Statistical data suggest that the rates of national mortality by respiratory TB decreased in the last decades in Hungary; however, an increasing TB mortality was detected in the capital Budapest. Facing a new mortality trend in TB, the forensic scene investigation and determination of manner of death represent new challenges for practitioners.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Death, Sudden / etiology*
  • Forensic Pathology
  • Hemoptysis / etiology
  • Humans
  • Hungary / epidemiology
  • Lung / pathology
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Shock, Hemorrhagic / etiology
  • Tuberculosis, Pulmonary / diagnosis*
  • Tuberculosis, Pulmonary / mortality