Sudden Death in the Aortic Stenosis and its Medico-Legal Implications: A Case Report

Sudden deaths in apparently healthy individuals, especially with a history of trivial physical trauma require a careful post-mortem examination. An innocent person may be held responsible while the actual cause of death is due to some underlying natural disease. There are many disorders in which the patients may remain asymptomatic and the first and only manifestation is of Sudden death. Aortic stenosis is one such disorder. In this case report we present a case of 21 year old male who was brought dead to RML hospital, Delhi with a history of trivial physical assault. The body was brought to the Mortuary of the Safdarjung hospital, Delhi for autopsy. During autopsy the deceased was found to have severe aortic stenosis. A detailed history revealed that he had been asymptomatic when alive. Smell of alcohol was present in the stomach. In itself the trauma was not sufficient to cause death in ordinary circumstances in a healthy individual. Alcohol and trauma could have been the precipitating factors in causing sudden death of the victim suffering from severe Aortic Stenosis.