ABSTRACT
The swelling of the brain is very common after head injury. Initially, it is said to be due to dysfunction in the autoregulatory control of cerebral blood flow following head injury. Diffuse brain swelling, so called 'malignant brain edema', is rare except in children and adolescents. Similar condition is also well known as second impact syndrome of which the recent study questions the existence, when the sports-related head injury occurs especially in adolescents. Diffuse brain swelling can cause death or persistent vegetative state even though the head injury is mild. The authors report a case of acute traumatic cerebral edema without herniation.
Subject(s)
Adolescent , Child , Humans , Brain , Brain Edema , Brain Injuries , Craniocerebral Trauma , Persistent Vegetative StateABSTRACT
With fragments of brittle materials including glasses, ceramics, metals, plastics, and stones, various wounds can be formed by accident or homicide. We experienced two cases with fatal injury from shattering of brittle materials accidentally. In the first case, a woman died from the left subclavian artery transection by a projected fragment from a mug shattering. In the second case, a man pilfer died of the right popliteal artery and vein transection by fragments from shattering of a glass bottle. We represented these cases to adress it in depth the significance of deaths associated with fatal injuries caused by shattered fragments of brittle materials on the viewpoints of forensic pathology.