Choking on food: A rare case of alexander leukodystrophy and choking
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2008
Abstract
Every body has to eat to survive but it becomes a matter of great concern, when the life provider food becomes an asphyxiating agent. In this case, a 60-year-old woman choked herself while swallowing biscuits. On autopsy examination, biscuits were found lodged in larygo-pharynx. Brain showed marked dystrophy and loosened lusterless white matter. On histopathologic examination, brain tissue had numerous eosinophilic globules representing astrocytic processes called "Rosenthal fibers"; hence, it was diagnosed as a case of Alexander dystrophy. It is a disease of white matter, where there is a progressive degeneration of the white matter of the brain because of imperfect growth or development of the myelin sheath. The histopathology of brain showed Rosenthal fibers in abundance. This is one of the rarest disease in which choking can occur because of lack of nervous and muscular coordination and weakness. Its specific relation to choking is documented in this report. © 2008 by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
Keywords
Accidental death by choking, Alexander leukodystrophy, Choking and CNS disease, Choking on food, Leukodystrophy, Rosenthal fibers
Divisions
fac_med
Publication Title
The American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology
Volume
29
Issue
4
Publisher
Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins