Explore chapters and articles related to this topic
Infection in the Hematopoeitic Stem Cell Transplant Recipient with Autoimmune Disease
Published in Richard K. Burt, Alberto M. Marmont, Stem Cell Therapy for Autoimmune Disease, 2019
Valentina Stosor, Teresa R. Zembower
Polymyositis and dermatomyositis are idiopathic inflammatory myopathies characterized by proximal limb and neck weakness, sometimes associated with muscle pain.52 Malignancy, cardiac and pulmonary dysfunction, and infections are the most common causes of death.53,54 The most common infectious complication is aspiration pneumonia due to respiratory muscle weakness. A case series of four patients with fulminant PCP is described in patients receiving corticosteroids. Three of the patients died in the first month of steroid therapy of overwhelming PCP.55 Herpes zoster is reported to occur with high frequency in these patients. Interestingly, it occurs more commonly in the inactive stages of disease and is not associated with steroid therapy.56 Two cases of nosocomial pneumonia with Stenotrophomonas maltophilia and one case of disseminated N. brasiliensis infection have been described.57,58
Forensic Radiology
Published in Paolo Russo, Handbook of X-ray Imaging, 2017
Claire Robinson, Bruno Morgan, Guy N. Rutty
Investigating the “cause of death” involves studying the relevant history and environment, an external examination of the body, and then an internal examination, normally performed by autopsy. This involves macroscopic examination, sometimes followed by the microscopic examinations of bodily fluids and tissues (histology and microbiology) and biochemistry and toxicology testing. The legal investigation may be initiated for a wide range of indications, from a probable but unexpected natural death of unknown reason to an unnatural death suspected to be murder. Sometimes, the actual cause of death may be obvious, for example, in a road traffic collision, and the investigation focuses more on the pattern of injury, giving important information about the circumstances of the trauma, such as speed, use of a seat belt, and site of impact. Imaging is of particular help in this, as bony injuries are easily demonstrated by all imaging modalities. A radiographic survey of the deceased will enable the pathologist to identify and evaluate injuries before the autopsy and differentiate accidental from inflicted injuries. To physically evaluate injuries at autopsy following a road traffic accident, for example, will take a significant amount of time and will be very disruptive to the body. Imaging, and especially PMCT, can considerably speed up this process. MRI may also be helpful in assessment of soft tissue damage, such as in strangulation or clinically in attempted strangulation (Yen et al. 2007).
Trends in Biotechnology
Published in Firdos Alam Khan, Biotechnology Fundamentals, 2020
The branch of pathology that determines the cause of death by examination of the victim’s body tissues is called forensic pathology. The post-mortem autopsy is performed by the forensic pathologist at the request of a medical doctor or examiner. The forensic pathologist processes the tissues using biochemical and microscopic techniques to determine the cause of death. The biochemical and cytological data obtained from the victim’s body are compared with those of normal tissues to conclude what was the cause of the death. Additionally, forensic pathologists write a report to approve the identity of a victim.
COVID-19 impact on excess deaths of various causes in the United States
Published in Annals of GIS, 2022
Akhil Kumar, Yogya Kalra, Weihe Wendy Guan, Vansh Tibrewal, Rupali Batta, Andrew Chen
There must be a differentiation made between underlying causes and the listed cause of death. The CDC defines the cause of death as being ‘the disease or injury which initiated the train of events leading directly to death’ (CDC, 2019). Therefore, if an Alzheimer’s patient contracted and died from COVID-19, their cause of death would be COVID-19. It is the same reason that while diabetes is a specified comorbidity, a patient with diabetes who dies from COVID-19 has the cause of death listed as COVID-19. Similarly, if diabetes caused a patient’s death, even though the patient may have tested positive with COVID-19, as long as COVID-19 is not the leading cause of death, the death would be categorized as a death of diabetes, which is the underlying cause of death. Such death would also be counted under COVID-19 Multiple Cause of Death, but it will not be double counted in the total death count.
Impact of sports participation on mortality rates among Brazilian adults
Published in Journal of Sports Sciences, 2019
Bruna C. Turi-Lynch, Henrique Luiz Monteiro, Rômulo Araújo Fernandes, Xuemei Sui, Ítalo Ribeiro Lemes, Jamile Sanches Codogno
Trained researchers have contacted all participants or relatives by phone, registering the occurrence and date of deaths during the follow-up period. Relatives reported deaths during telephone contact and the researchers ascertained the information in the records of the BNHS (with previous authorization of the Department of Health of Bauru). In the last follow-up (December 2014), the number of all-cause mortality cases was 59. The causes of deaths were coded according to the International Classification of Diseases (World Health Organization (WHO), 2016). The most prevalent causes of death were diseases of the circulatory system (n = 20; 33.9% [21.8% to 45.9%]), followed by cancer (n = 10; 16.9% [7.3% to 26.5%]) and diseases of the respiratory system (n = 4; 6.8% [1.0% to 13.1%]). In the entire sample, 27.1% (n = 16) of deaths were classified as ill-defined or unknown.
Vital statistics and early death predictors of North American professional basketball players: A historical examination
Published in Journal of Sports Sciences, 2018
Srdjan Lemez, Nick Wattie, Tyler Lawler, Joseph Baker
We identified 787 NBA/ABA players as deceased from a total of 3,901 players who competed between 1946 and 2010 (20.1%). The median age of death was 71.0 years and the mean (M) age of death was 68.1 years (y) with a standard deviation (±) of 16.0 (range (R) = 24.3–99.6 y) for the entire NBA/ABA sample. Of the former players with a confirmed death date, our search identified 514 causes of death (65.3%) from 16 different ICD groups (see Table 1), 432 of which were from natural causes (i.e., not directly caused by external forces; M = 68.9 y ± 14.6) and 82 from unnatural or premature causes (e.g., accident, suicide and homicide; M = 50.8 y ± 19.5). Further, the top two leading causes of death were from diseases of the circulatory system (i.e., cardiac-related) and malignant neoplasms (i.e., cancer), both natural causes, and accounted for 54.6% (281/514) of all-known deaths in the population. The youngest ages of death on average occurred from certain infectious and parasitic diseases (n = 2; M = 39.1 y ± 4.5) and intentional self-harm (n = 6; M = 43.0 y ± 15.5) and the oldest from diseases of the digestive (n = 4; M = 80.8 y ± 3.5) and genitourinary system (n = 5; M = 79.0 y ± 17.6).