A woman, found dead in her garage, had a fatal level of carboxyhaemoglobin in her blood. Her recent medical history tended to support a suspicion of suicide but at autopsy a small islet cell tumour was discovered in her pancreas. Further investigations indicated that she had a high blood insulin level, sufficient to produce lethargy or coma, at the time of death. In the light of these findings it was concluded that her death was accidental. The techniques available for investigating the significance of islet cell tumours found at post-mortem are discussed.
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