System: Forensic Pathology: Lung: : Diffuse alveolar damage
Case 1, image 1: This 37-year-old woman died of blunt force injuries of the head. She was a passenger in a motor vehicle, which was struck head-on by another car. The decedent sustained head trauma, was declared brain dead, and became an organ donor.
Case 1, image 2: The lungs demonstrate diffuse alveolar damage with prominent hyaline membranes and scattered inflammatory cells
Case 2, image 1: This 58 year old man died of coagulase-positive Staphylococcus sepsis due to bronchopneumonia.
Diffuse alveolar damage, clinically known as acute respiratory distress syndrome, can have many etiologies including finection, trauma, burns, shock, exposure to toxins and drugs (including chemotherapy and radiation), mechanical ventilation, and so forth.