A Very Unusual Accidental Mechanical Asphyxia of Choking with a Whole Solea Solea

• Francesco Paolo Busardò ^[1] ; Giulio Mannocchi ^[1] ; Paola Pugnetti ^[2] ; Alessandro Santurro ^[1] ; Aldo Maggiordomo ^[2] ; Simona Zaami ^[1]
  1. [1] Università de Roma La Sapienza

     Università de Roma La Sapienza

     Roma Capitale, Italia

     
  2. [2] Consultant Forensic Pathologist SML Palermo Italy
• Localización: Journal of forensic sciences, ISSN-e 1556-4029, ISSN 0022-1198, Vol. 62, Nº. 2, 2017, págs. 511-514
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • The case here reported involves a schizophrenic 19-year-old girl under treatment with clotiapine, which was well tolerated except for a moderate dry mouth. The woman ingested a whole sole (Solea solea), which caused a very rapid death by choking. A complete autopsy was performed 24 h later, as well as histological and toxicological analysis. At autopsy, the sole was wedged in the esophagus causing a choking ab extrinseco. The fish had a length of 18 cm and a maximum width of 6 cm, weighing 188.7 g. Toxicological analysis detected 0.57 mg/L of clotiapine in blood, which falls within the therapeutic range. The peculiarity of this case is represented by two factors: one is the choking by fish and the second was the adverse affect caused by clotiapine, which induced a condition of dry mouth making the act of swallowing even more difficult, thereby contributing to a very rapid mechanical asphyxia and the death of the young woman.