Hepatic abscess formation and unexpected death: a delayed complication of occult intraabdominal foreign body.

A case of unexpected death in a 65-year-old woman, caused by a migrating foreign body that resulted in multifocal hepatic abscesses, is reported. The foreign body was subsequently identified as a portion of chicken fibula. The prolonged time course of the illness, with relatively nonspecific symptoms and signs, resulted in establishment of the diagnosis only at autopsy.