Chin-sternum-heart syndrome type of injury observed in a pedestrian victim of car traffic accident

Abstract

We report an autopsy case of a pedestrian victim of car traffic accident with the chin-sternum-heart syndrome type of injury. A drunken man who lay on the road was run over by a car. He died immediately at the scene. The autopsy findings were as follows: large scalp lacerations, abrasions in the chin and the sternal region, a transverse fracture of the sternum, ruptures of the heart, ruptures of the ascending and descending aortae, rupture and hemorrhage of the nuchal muscle, ring fracture of the base of the skull, subarachnoid hemorrhage at the base of the brain, multiple rib fractures, anterior compression fracture of the 11th thoracic vertebra, and small lacerations of the liver. Blood ethanol level was 2.92 mg/g. These findings indicate that there was hyperflexion of the neck and then the victim’s heart was strongly compressed and ruptured by the collision of the chin with the sternal region of the chest.