Republication: Sudden Postpartum Death from Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension.

Park, Won Young; Jo, Gam Rae; Huh, Gi Yeong

doi:2014.38.3.129

Korean J Leg Med > Volume 38(3); 2014 > Article

Case Report

Korean Journal of Legal Medicine 2014;38(3):129-132.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.7580/kjlm.2014.38.3.129 Published online August 31, 2014.

Republication: Sudden Postpartum Death from Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension.

Won Young Park, Gam Rae Jo, Gi Yeong Huh

¹Department of Pathology, Pusan National University Hospital, Busan, Korea.
²Department of Forensic Medicine, Pusan National University School of Medicine, Yangsan, Korea. gyhuh@pusan.ac.kr

Abstract

We present here a brief literature review and a case study of postpartum pulmonary arterial hypertension, a rare and progressive disease with a high maternal mortality rate. The patient, a 32-year-old woman, presented with dyspnea and shivering immediately following an uncomplicated vaginal delivery. The patient had no remarkable individual or familial history. She died 4 hours after her delivery, and an autopsy revealed atherosclerosis of the main pulmonary arteries and characteristic plexiform lesions on the lung. The remaining organs showed no remarkable pathology. We reported pulmonary arterial hypertension associated with pregnancy as the cause of death.

Key Words: Pulmonary artery hypertension, Postpartum, Sudden death