Traumatic Decapitation of the Fetus During Birth: Criminalistic and Forensic Aspects.

Serious intrapartum fetal injuries are unfortunate events that confer severe consequences on medical personnel. Most birth traumas are noncritical and resolve for a few days. Permanent effects or fatal outcomes occur infrequently. We report an unusual case of intrapartum complete fetal decapitation. The labor was complicated by shoulder dystocia, with resultant repeated mechanical trauma to the fetal neck and, finally, decapitation. The tragic results of biological processes in human organisms do not automatically confirm medical malpractice. However, there may be grave ethical and forensic outcomes.

Citation

Tomáš Vojtíšek, Štěpánka Pohlová Kučerová, Svatava Duchaňová, Jan Krajsa, Petr Hejna. Traumatic Decapitation of the Fetus During Birth: Criminalistic and Forensic Aspects. The American journal of forensic medicine and pathology. 2020 Sep;41(3):234-237

Mesh Tags

PMID: 32796208

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