title: William Henry Battle and Battle's sign: mastoid ecchymosis as an indicator of basilar skull fracture.
abstract: William Henry Battle (1855-1936) practiced medicine in England > 1 century ago and is primarily remembered for his description of ecchymosis over the mastoid, which indicates fracture of the skull base. Although Mr. Battle made many contributions to medicine, almost nothing exists in the literature regarding his life and findings, especially in regard to head injury. The following is a review of Battle's background and his contributions to medicine, specifically his observations associated with basilar skull fractures.
authors.affiliation: Division of Neurosurgery, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Alabama, USA. rstubbs@uab.edu
authors.forename: R Shane
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Tubbs
authors.forename: Mohammadali M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Shoja
authors.forename: Marios
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Loukas
authors.forename: W Jerry
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Oakes
authors.forename: Aaron
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cohen-Gadol
mesh_terms: D004438:Ecchymosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology; D004739:England; D013502:General Surgery / Q000266:history*; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D008416:Mastoid / Q000473:pathology; D020205:Skull Fracture, Basilar / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000266:history* / Q000473:pathology