Citation

Vrbanic L, Hunt C, Cooney M, Heffernan J, Walsh A, Heaney C, Collis SA, Howley R, Fearon C, Farrell M, Brett F. Ir. J. Med. Sci. 2022; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, General Publications)

DOI

10.1007/s11845-022-03222-4

PMID

36534315

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: A difficult question in autopsy practice is whether intracranial haemorrhage has resulted from or brought about a fall. MATERIAL AND METHODS: To address this we undertook a retrospective study of all autopsy reports (N = 2126) complied over a 10 year period (2009-2018). Of 720 patients who underwent a comprehensive post mortem neuropathologic examination we found 226 patients who had a history of a fall.

RESULTS: Of the 226 with a history of fall, 179 (79%) had an intrcranial haemorrhage which was classified as truamatic (n = 134, 77%) or spontaneous (n = 41, 23%. Within the traumatic group, falls from a standing height (51%) were more common than falls involving stairs (31%) or falls from a height (12%). Cerebral contusional injury (51%) and subdural haemorrhage (45%) were the most common type of haemorrhage in the traumatic group. In the spontaneous haemorrhage group cerebral amyloid angiopaty (49%) was the commonest detected cause and was typically lobar in distribution).

CONCLUSION: We are of the view that a comprehensice analysis of fatal falls with intracranial haemorrhage warrants a detailed neuropathologic examination as part of the overall death analysis.

Language: en

Keywords

Trauma; Fall; Hypertension; Cerebral amyloid angiopathy; Haemorrhage