Citation

Barranco R, Molinelli A, Ventura F. Am. J. Forensic Med. Pathol. 2018; 39(4): 367-369.

Affiliation

From the Department of Legal and Forensic Medicine, University of Genova, Genova, Italy.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, Lippincott Williams and Wilkins)

DOI

10.1097/PAF.0000000000000429

PMID

30161033

Abstract

Fatalities due to stabbings are usually caused by large blood vessels or organs injuries resulting in hemorrhagic shock. Vagal inhibition from a stab to the neck is an undeniably exceptional event, infrequently described in the literature. In our case report, we describe one such fatality. The body of a deceased 38-year-old man was found near a public garden. According to a bystander, the victim had been assaulted by 2 individuals, sustaining a stab wound to the neck with a broken glass bottle. At the autopsy, there was a large, inverted L-shaped cut wound in the left cervical region, measuring approximately 4.5 × 3 cm. The carotid artery and the jugular vein, as well as their main branches, were uninjured. The trachea and bronchi contained no exudate or blood. There was a hematoma near the trunk of the vagus nerve and its branches. The cause of death was attributed to the deep stab wound to the neck via vasovagal inhibition and parasympathetic nervous system stimulation.

Language: en