Fatal exsanguination from hemodialysis vascular access sites.
Summary of "Fatal exsanguination from hemodialysis vascular access sites."
Exsanguination from hemodialysis vascular sites may cause a rapid death. Due to extensive blood loss at the scene, investigators may initially suspect a homicide or suicide. We reviewed 100 deaths due to hemorrhage from hemodialysis shunt sites. The majority (81%) of these hemorrhages occurred at home and 44% subsequently died at home. Recognition of this medical complication at the scene is important to prevent the dispatch of the crime scene or homicide unit. In these instances, the common causes of kidney failure included hypertensive cardiovascular disease and diabetes mellitus. The manners of death were certified as therapeutic complication (93%), accident (5%), and suicide (2%). These fatal shunt hemorrhages are rapid and large due to their superficial subcutaneous locations and elevated shunt pressures from the arterial-venous anastamosis. The cause of death statement must include the proximate cause of death, which is usually the disease that resulted in kidney failure, if it is known.
Affiliation
New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner, 520 First Avenue, New York, NY, 10016, USA, JGILL@OCME.NYC.GOV.
Journal Details
This article was published in the following journal.
Name: Forensic science, medicine, and pathology
ISSN: 1556-2891
Pages:
Links
- PubMed Source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22160736
- DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12024-011-9303-0
Medical and Biotech [MESH] Definitions
Hemodialysis Units, Hospital
Hospital units in which care is provided the hemodialysis patient. This includes hemodialysis centers in hospitals.
Hemodialysis, Home
Long-term maintenance hemodialysis in the home.
Hemodiafiltration
The combination of hemodialysis and hemofiltration either simultaneously or sequentially. Convective transport (hemofiltration) may be better for removal of larger molecular weight substances and diffusive transport (hemodialysis) for smaller molecular weight solutes.
Hemodialysis Solutions
Solutions prepared for hemodialysis. The composition of the pre-dialysis solution may be varied in order to determine the effect of solvated metabolites on anoxia, malnutrition, acid-base balance, etc. Of principal interest are the effect of the choice of buffers (e.g., acetate or carbonate), the addition of cations (Na+, K+, Ca2+), and addition of carbohydrates (glucose).
Exsanguination
Rapid and extreme blood loss leading to HEMORRHAGIC SHOCK.
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