Open AccessAnthrax: pathological aspects in autopsy cases in Shiraz, Islamic Republic of Iran, 1960-2001
Author(s) -
Seyed Ziaaddin Tabei,
Ashok R. Amin,
Arash Mowla,
S. Ali Nabavizadeh,
A Razmkon
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
eastern mediterranean health journal/eastern mediterranean health journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.442
H-Index - 47
eISSN - 1687-1634
pISSN - 1020-3397
DOI - 10.26719/2004.10.1-2.27
Subject(s) - bacillus anthracis , autopsy , medicine , hyaline , pathological , disease , cause of death , sepsis , respiratory distress , islamic republic , tuberculosis , pathology , immunology , biology , surgery , islam , geography , genetics , archaeology , bacteria
Anthrax, like tuberculosis, shows a new epidemic spread in industrialized countries, revealing some ambiguous aspects to the disease and providing new challenges to medicine. Shiraz University of Medical Sciences has records of 7130 autopsies performed in the past 40 years, 33 of which are anthrax cases. We reviewed all the pathology slides of these cases and classified the organs involved in a search for unrecognized microscopic findings. The most common cause of death was sepsis, caused by organ involvement and direct cytotoxicity of Bacillus anthracis, in addition to its exotoxin production. Novel findings included hyaline membrane formation in respiratory system cases that is similar to acute [adult] respiratory distress syndrome and evidence of primary gastrointestinal involvement, showing the ability of the organism to pass the gastric barrier