1 - Bihor County Forensic Service, Oradea, Bihor, Romania
2 - County Clinical Emergency Hospital Cluj-Napoca, Clinical Department of Dermatovenerology
3 - County Emergency Hospital of Oradea, Department of Urology, Oradea, Romania
4 - University of Oradea, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, Department of Morphological Disciplines, Oradea, Romania
5 - Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Iasi, Romania, Department of Legal Medicine
6 - University of Oradea, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, Department of Medical Disciplines
7 - Institute of Legal Medicine of Iași, Romania
Received: May 28, 2019
Accepted: June 23, 2019
Fat embolism is a rare complication of high or medium intensity trauma. It is caused by the formation of fat particles in the territories of small terminal circulation, especially at pulmonary, tegumentary and cerebral levels. The mechanism underlying the fat embolism is described by several different theories in literature. In legal medicine, fat embolism raises many controversies upon the diagnostic certainty of the thanatogenerator mechanism leading to death. The occurrence of fat embolism syndrome followed by death must be properly explained so that the fatality can be adequately framed from a legal point of view. In this paper the authors present three cases in which victims of trauma died due to clinically undiagnosed fat embolism, the diagnosis being established only by postmortem histopathological examination. The authors underline the fact that the diagnosis of fat embolism syndrome, although it is a clinical one, it is often established only during autopsy.
Podila, C., Somlea, M.C., Buhas, B.A., Judea, A.S., Hlescu, A.A., Nicoara, N., Sandoiu, F., Marian, P., Hanganu, B., & Manoilescu, I.S. (2025). Death due to a rare posttraumatic complication: fat embolism. Romanian Journal of Military Medicine, 122(2), 56-61.
Podila C, Somlea MC, Buhas BA, Judea AS, Hlescu AA, Nicoara N, et al. Death due to a rare posttraumatic complication: fat embolism. Rom J Mil Med. 2025;122(2):56-61.
Podila, C., Somlea, M.C., Buhas, B.A., Judea, A.S., Hlescu, A.A., Nicoara, N., Sandoiu, F., Marian, P., Hanganu, B. & Manoilescu, I.S. 2025, 'Death due to a rare posttraumatic complication: fat embolism', Romanian Journal of Military Medicine, vol. 122, no. 2, pp. 56-61.
