A case of fatal cervical discoligamentous hyperextension injury without fracture: correlation of postmortem imaging and autopsy findings.
We present a case of fatal cervical discoligamentous hyperextension injury without fracture. Postmortem computed tomography (PMCT) and postmortem magnetic resonance imaging (PMMRI) disclosed cervical instability and spinal cord injury in the absence of fracture, which was confirmed by autopsy. Cervical discoligamentous injury without fracture may be unnoticeable on PMCT because signs of cervical misalignment change depending on the posture of the neck at the time of postmortem imaging. Because of its greater sensitivity for soft tissue injury, PMMRI is especially useful for detecting pathological changes in cases of death due to cervical discoligamentous injury. In this paper, findings on postmortem imaging for this injury are described in detail and correlated with findings on autopsy.
Department of Legal Medicine, Nippon Medical School, Tokyo, Japan. takahisa.okuda@gmail.com
Takahisa
T
Okuda
Seiji
S
Shiotani
Hideyuki
H
Hayakawa
Kazunori
K
Kikuchi
Tomoya
T
Kobayashi
Youkichi
Y
Ohno
D000368:Aged; D002574:Cervical Vertebrae / Q000293:injuries* / Q000473:pathology*; D049429:Forensic Pathology; D006406:Hematoma / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D007403:Intervertebral Disc / Q000293:injuries / Q000473:pathology*; D004204:Joint Dislocations / Q000473:pathology; D008022:Ligaments / Q000293:injuries / Q000473:pathology*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D061330:Multidetector Computed Tomography; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000473:pathology; D055009:Spondylosis / Q000473:pathology