A 32-year-old woman collapsed suddenly in the early hours of the morning after visiting the toilet. Her partner made an emergency call immediately and started telephone-assisted cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Subsequent professional resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful, and the woman was pronounced dead at the scene. She was known to be a long-term intravenous drug (IVD) user. A medicolegal autopsy was requested considering the woman's young age and her specific history of IVD abuse.Autopsy revealed the body of a poorly nourished Caucasian woman, 162 cm in height and 55 kg in weight. On external examination, there were prominent areas of depigmentation of the skin in the bilateral groin area, the anterior part of the right thigh, and the left cubital fossa. Fresh subcutaneous hemorrhages were seen on the anterior part of the right thigh with fresh puncture marks. External examination also revealed multiple petechial hemorrhages on the right lower leg. Other external findings were unremarkable.
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