NCJ Number
246169
Journal
Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume: 58 Issue: 4 Dated: July 2013 Pages: 1075-1079
Date Published
July 2013
Length
3 pages
Annotation
A 43-year-old full-term pregnant woman gravida 2, para 1, medical history of gestational diabetes mellitus developed a sudden and malignant hypertension with hemoptysis, sweat, and tachycardia during a scheduled C-section.
Abstract
A 43-year-old full-term pregnant woman gravida 2, para 1, medical history of gestational diabetes mellitus developed a sudden and malignant hypertension with hemoptysis, sweat, and tachycardia during a scheduled C-section. A dead newborn was delivered and was successfully resuscitated. The mother died after resistant cardiac arrest. Autopsy and pathological analyses revealed an acute pulmonary edema and a necrotic and hemorrhagic voluminous tumor of the left adrenal gland, which was a pheochromocytoma. Pheochromocytoma is a rare tumor of the adrenal glands which secretes catecholamines. In pregnant women, its symptoms can mimic gestational hypertension, preeclampsia or eclampsia, and gestational diabetes mellitus. The gestational diabetes mellitus was presumed to be a symptom of the pheochromocytoma, and cardiopulmonary failure the result from the necrosis of the tumor provoked by gravid uterus compression. From a medico-legal point of view, the tumor could not have been suspected during the pregnancy.