[Fetal death in utero 15 weeks following amniocentesis -- a legal case (author's transl)].

This is a report about fetal death in utero in a case of monozygote, monochrionic, monoamnionic twin pregnancy (46,xy) 15 weeks after amniocentesis. The public prosecutor was occupied with the case by the patient. The accusation run as follows: Stab wound with following death in utero of one twin and thereby damage of the second twin also with following death in utero. Directly after delivery the first diagnosis by aspect of the fetuses was: transfusion syndrome. The following endoradiography of the blood vessels of the umbilical chords and placenta confirmed the first diagnosis (anastomosis). Additionally both chords were entangled and knotted variously. It was concluded that the extremely smaller fetus died from malnutrition (transfusion syndrome) whereas the taller fetus died from acute asphyxia (knotted chords in monoamnionic twin pregnancy). The forensic investigation was, as aspected, without any pathological findings concerning sequelae of stab wounds but revealed the lack of one chordvessel of the smaller fetus and the typical histological findings of an aspiration lung of the taller fetus.