ABTRACT

Aim: To determine the frequency, pattern and location of brainstem injuries with histopathologic analysis during postmortem examinations.

Study Design: Retrospective study

Place and Duration of Study: Department of Forensic Medicine& Toxicology and Department of Pathology, Peoples University of Medical & Health Sciences for Women, Shaheed Benazirabad, Sindh from 1^stJanuary 2014 to 31^st December 2018.

Methodology: Eighty three cases with head injury were reported, of them 48 had brain stem hemorrhage. Brain autopsy was performed, and findings are reported.

Results: The mean age of patients was 57.12±6.24 years. Mid brain hemorrhage was found in 20(41.6%) patients while pontine hemorrhage was found in 10(20.8%) patients. Eight (16.6%) patients had hemorrhage at medulla, 7(14.5%) patients had hemorrhage at the ponto-medullary junction, while 3(6.2%) patients had hemorrhage at cervico-medullary junction. The most common mode of injury was road traffic accidents (n=23) followed by assault (n=14), blow to the neck (n=9) and fall (n=2).

Conclusion: most common site for hemorrhage in brainstem was midbrain followed by pons and medulla. Traumatic brainstem injuries are often associated with lesions at other sites of brain and poor prognosis. The most common mode of injury in our study was road traffic accidents.

Keywords: Brainstem injury, Trauma, Brainstem hemorrhage