Pulmonary thromboembolism in infant: postmortem diagnosis

L. Hecser, S. K. Palfi, H. Jung

Abstract: We present an unusual case of pulmonary thromboembolism diagnosed microscopically in a 8-month old infant that was victim of an accident and suffered a cranio-cerebral trauma for which he was transported to the emergency department where death was declared shortly. We believe the pulmonary modification was not related to trauma and did not intervene in thanatogenesis. A review of the literature revealed that idiopathic thromboembolism in the pediatric population is relatively infrequent and is almost always associated with an underlying disease or risk factor. Both congenital and acquired conditions contribute to the development of thrombosis. The highest incidence is during the neonatal period, followed by another peak in adolescence. The annual incidence of thromboembolism is 0.007 to 0.14 per 10000 children or 5.3 per 10000 to hospital admissions of children and 24.0 per 10000 admissions to neonatal intensive care units.
Keywords: infant, posttraumatic state, pulmonary thromboembolism