A Café Coronary Death due to a 'Banana'

Café Coronary syndrome which was first reported as sudden collapse at restaurants while dining was found to be due to fatal occlusion of upper airway by large pieces of food. Many of those individuals had consumed large amounts of alcohol prior to the incident. However, same condition has also been noticed among institutionalized elderly with dementia and psychiatric conditions. This is an un-witnessed death of a café coronary syndrome , where a 70 year old man after having dinner with his children previous night found dead next day morning in his bed. At autopsy a blob of mucoid secretions were found at right nostril and a piece of banana weighing 21g was found impacted within the laryngophrarynx, occluding the air way. He was edentulous. This case highlights the need of being aware of the condition especially in the elderly with mastication problems due to lack of teeth and other deglutition problems.

DOI: 10.4038/sljfmsl.v1i1.2712

Sri Lanka Journal of Forensic Medicine, Science & Law 2010 Vol.1 No.1 pp.22-24