Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Jan;65(1):193-195.
doi: 10.1111/1556-4029.14149. Epub 2019 Aug 21.

The Frequency of Cranial Base Fractures in Lethal Head Trauma

Graziano D L Crudele  1 , Vera G Merelli  1 , Claudia Vener  2 , Silvano Milani  2 , Cristina Cattaneo  1
Affiliations

The Frequency of Cranial Base Fractures in Lethal Head Trauma

Graziano D L Crudele et al. J Forensic Sci. 2020 Jan.

Abstract

The interpretation of cranial base injuries has never been investigated from a purely anthropological perspective. Very little exists in forensic literature in order to interpret the significance of cranial base fractures. We analyzed 296 cases of deaths due to skull-brain injuries. The frequency of vault fractures was 75.7% and that of base fractures was 91.9%. We observed the distribution of cases of death according to manner of death and manner of injury and number of fossae involved. These observations were analytically compared to different variables (age, sex, manner of injury, and mode of injury). The study presented the proportion of base fractures associated with vault fractures, and the frequency of absence of base fracture in subjects with no vault fractures. Interesting associations of base fractures to age and manner of death are shown.

Keywords: cranial base fractures; forensic anthropology; forensic science; head trauma; human remains; skull fractures.

PubMed Disclaimer

Comment in

References

    1. Masotti S, Succi-Leonelli E, Gualdi-Russo E. Cremated human remains: is measurement of the lateral angle of the meatus acusticus internus a reliable method of sex determination? Int J Legal Med 2013;127(5):1039-44.
    1. Bohnert M, Rost T, Faller-Marquardt M, Ropohl D, Pollak S. Fractures of the base of the skull in charred bodies−post-mortem heat injuries or signs of mechanical traumatisation? Forensic Sci Int 1997;87(1):55-62.
    1. Pope EJ, Smith OC. Identification of traumatic injury in burned cranial bone: an experimental approach. J Forensic Sci 2004;49(3):431-40.
    1. Bohnert M, Rost T, Pollak S. The degree of destruction of human bodies in relation to the duration of the fire. Forensic Sci Int 1998;95(1):11-21.
    1. Venkatesh VT, Kumar MV, Jagannatha SR, Radhika RH, Pushpalatha K. Pattern of skeletal injuries in cases of falls from a height. Med Sci Law 2007;47(4):330-4.

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources