ischaemic death is considered, it is the association of thrombosis with atherosclerosis that is paramount. It is important to understand the concepts of ‘plaque’ burden; the average number of plaques in the coronary arteries and the nature of plaques appear to determine the incidence of CHD. The level of inflammatory activity in the plaque makes it vulnerable and may lead to precipitation of th...

Amniotic fluid embolism was first recognized in 1926, in a Brazilian journal case report, on the basis of large amounts of fetal material in the maternal pulmonary vasculature at autopsy. The first English language description appeared in 1941 and consisted of eight parturients dying suddenly in which, once again, fetal material was seen in the pulmonary vasculature. A control group of 34 pregn...