V Khanijow¹, K O'Connor², Rexson Tse³, S McCarthy^1
1Northern Forensic Pathology Service, Auckland City Hospital, Auckland, New Zealand; ²Department of Radiology, Auckland City Hospital, Auckland, New Zealand; ³Griffith University School of Medicine and Dentistry, Southport, Queensland, Australia.

Necrotizing epiglottitis is a rare complication of acute epiglottitis with potentially fatal airway complications and systemic considerations associated with sepsis. This case report presents the post-mortem findings, including both computed tomography (CT) and autopsy examinations, of a 59-year-old diabetic male who presented to the emergency department with systemic sepsis and circulatory collapse. Airway control was complicated by soft tissue changes to the supraglottis necessitating a surgical airway placement shortly prior to terminal collapse. Post-mortem CT revealed soft tissue swelling in the larynx. Post mortem examination showed oedema of the supraglottic soft tissues and necrosis of the epiglottis. This report underscores the diagnostic challenge of necrotizing epiglotittis in combination with imaging and histopathological findings.