title: Sellar fracture followed by sudden death: an autopsy case.
abstract: The authors describe a case of sellar fracture followed by sudden death. The victim was involved in a wrangle. The autopsy revealed facial damage and sellar fracture and no evidence of cerebral damage, except for a mild subarachnoid hemorrhage in the left parietotemporal regions and undersurface of both frontal lobes. Sellar fracture is a rare and severe entity, associated with serious complications, which is frequently diagnosed postmortem. In any case, death is rarely a direct consequence of the sellar fracture itself and is usually considered to be the result of associated cerebral trauma. This case prompted us to screen the literature on sellar fracture to gain a better understanding of the mechanism of death.
authors.affiliation: Istituto Medicina Legale Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome, Italy. d.marchetti@rm.unicatt.it
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Marchetti
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Filograna
authors.forename: Catia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Colecchi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003645:Death, Sudden / Q000209:etiology*; D049429:Forensic Pathology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009295:Nasal Bone / Q000293:injuries / Q000473:pathology; D012658:Sella Turcica / Q000293:injuries* / Q000473:pathology; D012887:Skull Fractures / Q000473:pathology*; D020206:Subarachnoid Hemorrhage, Traumatic / Q000473:pathology