Autopsy: Billy Mays had heart disease

Official Billy Mays Preliminary Autopsy Results

Associate Medical Examiner Dr. Leszek Chrostowski conducted an autopsy this morning on the body of Billy Mays, who was found dead on June 28th.

There has been speculation about an impact to the head that Mr. Mays received during a recent hard aircraft landing. The autopsy found no external or internal head trauma.

Questions have also circulated about the possibility of pulmonary thrombembolism, that is the migration of a clot from a leg vein through the heart to the artery supplying the lungs. The autopsy included a search for such a clot, and none was found.

The autopsy revealed hypertensive and arteriosclerotic disease of the heart, manifested by thickening of the muscular wall of the left ventricle, and the thickening of the walls of an artery supplying the heart muscle. Such disease is capable of causing sudden death by means of a disturbance in the electrical rhythm that coordinates the pumping of the heart.

Because of hip pain, Mr. Mays had prescriptions for tramadol, and more recently, for hydrocodone. Both are narcotic analgesic drugs. He had no history of any drug abuse, and the counts of remaining medication are correct.

Dr. Chrostowski will perform histolgic studies by examining tissue under the microscope. Dr. Julia Pearson, Hillsborough's chief forensic toxicologist, will perform standard tests for drugs, including narcotics. Typically, these studies are completed within six to eaight weeks. When these studies are concluded, Dr. Chrostowski will issue a cause-of-death opinion, which will appear on the death certificate and the autopsy report.

The completed autopsy report should be available within eight to ten weeks.

Recipients of this release will receive a follow-up media release when the cause and manner of death have been determined.

When the autopsy has been completed, recipients will receive an electronic copy of the signed report.

No further information will be released until all studies have been completed and a cause of death has been determined.