An autopsy case in which self-bloodletting via a cervical blood access led to a fatal outcome.

ABSTRACT

A 48-year-old woman was found dead on a chair in her living room. She had received dialysis every day because of chronic renal failure for the past 15 years. On a table beside her, there was a mirror and 10-mL syringe on a napkin. A stopper was out of place in a portion of a three-way blood access tube established in the right cervical region, and blood coagulation was noted in the lumen. There was a bloodstained measuring cup on the floor. Autopsy findings included a large number of shunt traces in the bilateral infraclavicular fossae and upper limbs, as well as the cervical blood access terminal reaching the right atrium via the internal jugular vein to superior vena cava. Various organs showed anemia. Neither a fatal lesion nor injury was noted in the main organs. Therefore, this patient may have committed suicide by self-bloodletting via a cervical blood access.