Patent foramen ovale, paradoxical embolism and fatal coronary obstruction

Forensic Science, Medicine, and Pathology
Danica CvetkovićSlobodan Nikolić

Abstract

A 75-year-old woman was admitted to the emergency room with chest pain and vomiting. An electrocardiogram and laboratory results were suggestive for myocardial infarction of the posterior cardiac wall. Echocardiography was indicative of aortic dissection, and a CT scan of the thoracic arteries showed a massive pulmonary thromboembolism and thrombotic occlusion of the right coronary artery (RCA). The woman died shortly after admission. Autopsy confirmed the presence of thromboemboli in the right pulmonary artery and its lobar branches. Also, the anterior aortic sinus was filled with a 9 cm long thromboembolus that extended into the RCA, making it dilated and completely occluded. Another 3.5 cm long thromboembolus extended from the beginning of the left subclavian artery. A patent foramen ovale (PFO) was present. On the posterior wall of the left ventricle, there was an area suggestive of myocardial infarction, and histopathological examination confirmed that it was 24-48 hours old. The coronary circulation was "co-dominant". The sources of thrombotic masses were the deep veins of the lower limbs. The cause of death was myocardial infarction, caused by RCA occlusion with thromboembolus originating from the deep veins of the left ...Continue Reading

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Citations

Aug 14, 2020·QJM : Monthly Journal of the Association of Physicians·O M P Jolobe
Aug 30, 2018·Forensic Science, Medicine, and Pathology·Roger W Byard
Oct 25, 2020·The American Journal of Emergency Medicine·Oscar M P Jolobe

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