Sudden Death Associated With Hypothyroidism.

Korean J Leg Med. 1999 Oct;23(2):96-100. Korean.

Department of Pathology, College of Medicine, Korea University, Korea.

Although it is known that hypothyroidism can cause cardiac dysfunction, it is very hard to find a case report on sudden death due to hypothyroidism. There are only two reported cases on medline; one is about a 15-year-old girl who died suddenly of Hashimoto's thyroiditis and the other is about a 31-year-old man who also died suddenly of hypothyroidism associated with chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis. Recently we found a young woman who unexpectedly died while she was sleeping. She was diagnosed as hypothyroidism when she went to hospital about a month before she died. At autopsy there were roughly four abnormal findings; Hashimoto's thyroiditis, mild chronic active hepatitis, diverticulosis and accessory spleen. Trace of chlorpheniramine was detected in gastric remains and blood alcohol level was 0.37 percent. To our knowledge, this is the first case reporting sudden and unexpected natural death associated with hypothyroidism in Korea.

Key words: Sudden death, hypothyroidism, Hashimoto’s thyroiditis