Autopsy and Case Reports
https://app.periodikos.com.br/journal/autopsy/article/doi/10.4322/acr.2021.402
Autopsy and Case Reports
Autopsy Case Report and Review

Complexities and complications of extreme obesity

Haval Ali; Udit Naik; Michelle McDonald; Mohammad Almosa; Karen Horn; Alexis Staines; Louis Maximilian Buja

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Abstract

Obesity is a common chronic disorder and has detrimental long-term consequences if left untreated. Herein, we report a case of a young lady who suffered from morbid obesity and many of its consequences, and we present a literature review of these complications. While the cause of obesity is multifactorial, the genetic component is particularly important in the pathophysiology of marked obesity. Resistance to Leptin is considered one of the main causes of obesity. There is a unique relationship between polycystic ovary syndrome and obesity, as observed in our case. Obesity is associated with cardiovascular and lung diseases such as heart failure, thromboembolic disease, sleep apnea, and pulmonary hypertension. Our patient had cardiomegaly (730 gm) with eccentric hypertrophy of left and right ventricles. The coronary arteries and aorta were free of atherosclerosis, which is a surprising finding that relates to the mysterious phenomenon of obesity paradox. The terminal event in our young woman was multiple segmental and subsegmental pulmonary arterial thrombi/thromboemboli superimposed on chronic cardiopulmonary stress due to massive obesity.

Keywords

Obesity, Morbid, Heart Failure, Pulmonary Embolism

References

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Submitted date:
07/29/2022

Accepted date:
09/15/2022

Publication date:
10/05/2022

633d7e11a953955d930b4523 autopsy Articles
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