Case report: Death caused by multi-organ metastatic calcifications as a result of intramuscular injections with paraffin oil
Søren Reinhold Jakobsen,
Marta Diaz-delCastillo,
Martin Blomberg Jensen,
Thomas Levin Andersen,
Ebbe Eldrup,
Trine Skov Nielsen
Affiliations
Søren Reinhold Jakobsen
Department of Forensic Medicine, Aarhus University, Palle Juul-Jensens Boulevard 99, Aarhus N 8200, Denmark; Corresponding author.
Marta Diaz-delCastillo
Department of Forensic Medicine, Aarhus University, Palle Juul-Jensens Boulevard 99, Aarhus N 8200, Denmark
Martin Blomberg Jensen
Department of Endocrinology, Copenhagen University Hospital, Herlev-Gentofte Copenhagen, Denmark; Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
Thomas Levin Andersen
Department of Forensic Medicine, Aarhus University, Palle Juul-Jensens Boulevard 99, Aarhus N 8200, Denmark
Ebbe Eldrup
Department of Endocrinology, Copenhagen University Hospital, Herlev-Gentofte Copenhagen, Denmark; Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
Trine Skov Nielsen
Department of Forensic Medicine, Aarhus University, Palle Juul-Jensens Boulevard 99, Aarhus N 8200, Denmark
In this forensic case report, we present autopsy findings from a young male in his thirties who had been self-injecting paraffin oil into his upper extremities 8 years prior to death. The injections induced an inflammatory response, leading to granuloma formation. This, in turn, resulted in severe hypercalcemia. The external autopsy examination revealed gross macroscopic ulcerations and enlargement of upper extremities, while calcifications of ligaments, heart, kidneys and dura mater was revealed on postmortem CT-scans. Histopathological examination showed extensive multiorgan metastatic calcifications in several tissues including the lungs, heart and kidney. Cause of death was estimated to be the extensive calcific deposits in the heart likely resulting in cardiac arrest. To our knowledge this is the first case reporting findings from an autopsy in which the cause of death was linked to cosmetic oil injections.
