One unlucky blow: The etiology of a depressed skull fracture.
J.
Forensic Sciences. 48(2):277-281, 2003.
Fenton,
TW, DeJong, JL, Haut, RC.
ABSTRACT:
We report a case in which a 33-year-old man was discovered
unconscious following a fistfight with another man. Emergency neurosurgical
efforts to repair a depressed temporoparietal skull fracture and associated
brain injuries were unsuccessful. The forensic anthropologist and pathologist
worked in tandem to sort out a complex combination of cranial evidence,
including healed antemortem trauma, perimortem blunt force trauma, remote and
recent neurosurgical intervention, and the craniotomy cut performed at autopsy.
The victim had suffered head injuries and a right temporoparietal craniotomy
ten years prior to death. The perimortem cranial fractures were centrally
located within a surgically repaired roundel of bone involving portions of the
right temporal and parietal bones. Reportedly, the victim was punched on the
right side of his head as he was lying on the ground with the left side of his
head against an asphalt surface. A primary question in the case was whether a
blow with a fist could have produced the observed cranial injuries. To
adequately answer that question, known data on the minimum amount of force
required to fracture the temporoparietal region were compared to data on the
amount of force generated by a blow with a fist. A biomechanics expert
demonstrated that a single blow with a fist to the rigidly supported head of
the victim could generate the required force to produce the observed fractures.
The previous medical condition possibly predisposed the victim to the cranial
fractures and contributed to the depressed nature of the fractures. Although
depressed cranial fractures do not typically result from a blow with a fist, it
was determined in this case that the fracture pattern was consistent with a
punch to the head.
Forensic Science
Laboratory
Department
of Anthropology
Michigan
State University,
Please
address correspondence to:
Todd W.
Fenton, Ph.D.
Assistant
Professor, Department of Anthropology
318 BAKER
HALL
Michigan State University,
East Lansing, MI 48824,
Tel: (517) 355-5190
Fax: (517)432-2363
E-mail:
fentont@msu.edu