Stillbirth with a false-positive lung float test result - an unusual case report.

Abstract

A male newborn found lifeless raised the question of whether he had lived after birth. The float sample test results of both lungs and the gastrointestinal tract were positive. Microbiological examinations detected the Fusobacterium gonidiaformans, an obligate anaerobic gas-forming germ, in the lung tissue and in the heart blood, which caused the float test results to be 'false-positive'. As far as can be seen, a comparable case has not yet been reported in forensic literature.