Pulmonary and coronary foreign particle embolism after central venous injection of liquid nutrition

Abstract A man was found dead in his nursing bed. The responsible assistant nurse explained that she had administered liquid nutrition (Isosource Energy Fibre 500 ml) via perfusion pump into the Hickman catheter, insisting that the Hickman catheter was a percutaneous endoscopic gastric tube. Autopsy findings were unspecific and could not reveal the cause of death. Histopathological examinations showed severe pulmonary foreign particle emboli, partially even emboli of the small coronary arteries. We present the pathological findings of the case in regard to the underlying pathophysiology.