BACKGROUND:

The WHO reports that the main complications that cause 75% of maternal deaths are: severe hemorrhage, infections, gestational hypertension, complications in childbirth and others. Most of these complications can be prevented and treated. Laryngeal papillomatosis is a heterogeneous, rare and chronic disease. In rare cases it can have an aggressive course, with damage to the fetus and respiratory tract.

CLINICAL CASE:

A 34-year-old patient, 32 weeks pregnant, died at home due to asphyxia after receiving first aid. The medico-legal autopsy reported the existence of an endolaryngeal tumor, with a forensic histopathological diagnosis of laryngeal papillomatosis. Real-time PCR for HPV detection and genotyping was performed on a kerosene block, which reported co-infection by two different virus genotypes: 18 and 6.

CONCLUSIONS:

Laryngeal papillomatosis is a rare disease. Pregnancy is a factor that favors the appearance of papillomatous lesions due to decreased immune response. Ignorance of the disease does not exempt the responsibility of a maternal death that could have been avoided with an adequate diagnosis and treatment.