title: Unsuspected meningoencephalitis in a case of assault by blunt force trauma.
abstract: Reported is a case of an assault causing extensive blunt force injuries in which the clinical, radiologic, and postmortem findings were all consistent with death resulting from brain damage arising from the assault. The assailant was charged with murder. Subsequent full neuropathologic (including histologic) examination revealed the unsuspected finding of a widespread meningoencephalitis but no evidence of significant traumatic brain damage. The contributions of the infective process and of the trauma to death were felt to be unclear and a guilty plea to attempted murder was accepted. This case highlights the importance of a full neuropathologic examination, including histology, in cases of trauma to the head, even when the cause of death may initially appear obvious.
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic Medicine and Science, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, Scotland, UK. m.black@formed.gla.ac.uk
authors.forename: Marjorie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Black
authors.forename: Ravindra
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fernando
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Graham
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kean
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology; D020520:Brain Infarction / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein / Q000032:analysis; D006708:Homicide; D006801:Humans; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000473:pathology; D008578:Meninges / Q000473:pathology; D008590:Meningoencephalitis / Q000473:pathology*; D014949:Wounds, Nonpenetrating / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein