Sudden death from rupture of corpus luteum in pregnancy: An autopsy based study on five cases

Sudden death most often brings curiosity in the mind of relatives, police and forensic pathologist until it is thoroughly investigated. WHO defines sudden death as death of apparently healthy individual without trauma or poisoning, which is sudden or within 24 hours from the onset of symptoms. Various causes of sudden death have been enumerated in forensic medicine literature. The present authors came across five cases, where young, newly married women had died due to rupture of corpus luteum of pregnancy, within 24 hours from the onset of symptoms. In all those cases, causes of deaths were unknown prior to autopsy. Misdiagnosis of such natural death as blunt trauma abdomen may wrongly implicate innocent individuals. Therefore, the present authors advocate inclusion of rupture of corpus luteum of pregnancy as one of the causes of sudden death in a pregnant women.