Case report: Sudden deaths due to choking to stomach contents

Abstract

Death due to accidental choking is commonly observed in children below 4 years of age being the common victims¹ . The children will choke from common items that the children play with including tiny toys, balloons and coins placed in the mouth and inhaled by accident^{2 ’ 3} . In adult’s aspiration is common to gastric contents especially in individuals with lowered level of consciousness e.g. in drug intoxication^{4, 5} . Mechanism of death in aspiration is due to respiratory failure resulting from asystole due to hypoxia induced  dysfunction in the respiratory centers in the brain stem⁵ . We hereby report two cases of sudden death due to choking from stomach contents which were brought to our mortuary for autopsy.