Periadventitial extracranial vertebral artery hemorrhage in a case of shaken baby syndrome
Gleckman, A.M.; Kessler, S.C.; Smith, T.W.
Journal of Forensic Sciences 45(5): 1151-1153
2000
ISSN/ISBN: 0022-1198 PMID: 11005195 Document Number: 514614
We report a case of a two-month-old boy who became unresponsive in the sole custody of his father. Resuscitation efforts on route to the hospital were able to restore the infant's heart beat. However, neurologic function never recovered. Autopsy revealed massive cerebral edema, recent subdural, and subarachnoid hemorrhages, bilateral retinal hemorrhages, and cervical spine ligament hemorrhages. Separation of individual cervical vertebrae showed extensive, bilateral, periadventitial vertebral artery hemorrhages between C1 and C4, with corresponding luminal compression of the vertebral arteries. The importence of this previously unreported phenomena of periadventitial vertebral artery hemorrhage in the setting of shaken baby syndrome is discussed.