title: Fatal traumatic vertebral artery aneurysm rupture. Case report.
abstract: The authors present the case of a 34-year-old man struck over the left mastoid region by a hockey puck, who suffered a fatal rupture of a left vertebral artery berry aneurysm. He became apneic within seconds of the injury and had no brainstem reflex within minutes. The postmortem examination showed massive subarachnoid hemorrhage in the posterior fossa and the remnants of a berry aneurysm near the intradural origin of the left vertebral artery, 11 mm proximal to the posterior inferior cerebellar artery. Rupture of a saccular aneurysm as a result of head trauma is rare. This is the first reported case of a posterior circulation aneurysm rupture as a result of head trauma.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Neurological Sciences, London Health Sciences Center, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: R L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Sahjpaul
authors.forename: M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Abdulhak
authors.forename: C G
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Drake
authors.forename: R R
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Hammond
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017542:Aneurysm, Ruptured / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D001265:Athletic Injuries / Q000150:complications; D006259:Craniocerebral Trauma / Q000150:complications*; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D006688:Hockey; D006801:Humans; D002532:Intracranial Aneurysm / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008297:Male; D011859:Radiography; D013345:Subarachnoid Hemorrhage / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology; D014711:Vertebral Artery / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology