Authors
Dr. A Haricharan, Dr. Salam Bitam Singh, Dr. Kh. Pradip Kumar, Prof. Th. Meera Devi
Abstract
Extradural hemorrhage (EDH) may prove to be a fatal complication of head injury; however, it is the most easily diagnosed and treatable form of traumatic intracranial hemorrhage. It usually occurs at the site of impact and as a cause of death, it is extremely rare with only a few cases being reported till now. In this paper, an unusual case of fatal traumatic delayed EDH (subacute) brought as sudden death has been reported. The interesting aspect of the case is that the death occurred while the person was standing in a queue at a COVID-19 vaccination centre, which he did after a gap of two weeks following a road traffic accident. Gross inattention to one’s own health supplemented with depressed conscious level under the influence of alcohol resulted in the fatal outcome, which was otherwise avertible. The case has been reported considering its unusual presentation and rarity. Keywords: Extradural Haemorrhage, Alcoholism, Delayed Death
Introduction
Extradural haematoma (EDH) or “Epidural haemorrhage”, is a traumatic accumulation of blood which is present between the dural membrane and skull periosteum. It is generally, located beneath a skull fracture. It occurs in 1-2 % of patients following head injuries and more frequently seen in males and middle-age group of population (Salam et al., 2017). Road traffic accidents are the most potentially lethal cause of head injuries. The extradural haemorrhage is easily diagnosed and treatable, but the mortality rate remains high when compared to other types of intracranial haemorrhages (Bir et al., 2015). The present case report deals with an unusual case of traumatic delayed EDH (subacute type) which was brought as sudden death to our centre.
Case Report
A 26-year old male suddenly fell down, while he was standing in a queue in a vaccination centre for 2nd dose of COVID-19 vaccine in the month of July at 1:25 pm. Initially, he was responding well to commands. Later, his voice muffled and failed to respond to verbal command, and he went into a semiconscious state.
He was immediately evacuated to a tertiary care teaching hospital at around 2:00 pm. On clinical examination, he was found semiconscious, disoriented, afebrile, BP was 160/100 mmHg, pulse rate, 92 beats/min and SpO2 was 90. However, later in the day, his condition deteriorated despite the treatment given and the coma deepened. He was not responding to external stimuli and the blood pressure and heart rate were unrecordable. He was declared dead by the doctors at around 4.30 PM. The body was brought for autopsy by the police to our centre.
During the police investigation, it was found that he was found to be chronic alcoholic for the last 20 years and met with a self-road traffic accident about two weeks back. He had sustained injury on the forehead and was treated in a hospital near his residence. But, he was allowed to go home on the same day as his CT scan report was normal. He was drunk all the time and attention was never was given to his health neither by himself nor by the members of his family even though he had disorientation off and on.
References
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How to cite this article?
| APA Style | Haricharan, A., et al. “Fatal Delayed Extradural Haemorrhage a Case Report.” Academic Journal of Forensic Science, vol. 5, no. 2, Oct. 2022, pp. 37–40. |
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