NCJ Number
148717
Journal
Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume: 39 Issue: 3 Dated: (May 1994) Pages: 624-628
Date Published
1994
Length
5 pages
Annotation
The autopsy reports of all 102 victims of severe head trauma from January 1989 through June 1992 at the Bowman Gray School of Medicine/North Carolina Baptist Hospital were examined to determine the incidence of pulmonary embolization of cerebral tissue as the result of severe head trauma with and without dural penetration.
Abstract
The retrospective and prospective histologic examination of these cases revealed that a total of 10 percent had emboli of cerebral tissue within the pulmonary vasculature. Immunohistochemical staining of the emboli confirmed the neural origin of the tissue. The dura mater proved to intact in 70 percent of the cases of cerebral embolization. Results indicated that embolization of cerebral tissue may occur without rupture of the dura and/or large venous sinuses. This observation is of clinical as well as forensic importance, because cerebral tissue emboli are a rich source of thromboplastin in the systemic and pulmonary vasculature and may contribute to the morbidity and mortality of head injuries. Figures, tables, and 9 references (Author abstract modified)