Manejo de las lesiones vasculares en zona I del cuello. Presentación de casos / Handling vascular lesions in the zone I of the neck. Case presentation

RESUMEN Se estima que al menos del 5 al 10 % de todas las lesiones traumáticas del organismo afectan el cuello. En el 30 % de los casos se afecta alguna estructura importante de esta zona del cuerpo humano. Las estructuras vasculares aparecen lesionadas en el 20 % mientras que las estructuras aerodigestivas en un 10%. Las lesiones de la zona I por diversas razones anatómicas y los órganos que incluye son de difícil manejo. Se presentan dos pacientes con lesiones vasculares de la zona I del cuello. Se realizó una revisión del tratamiento de las lesiones traumáticas del cuello con especial énfasis en las de la zona I. Se abordan diferentes tendencias actuales en el manejo de estos pacientes (AU).

ABSTRACT It is appraised that at least 5 to 10 % of all the organism trauma lesions involve the neck. In 30 % of the cases, any main structure of this zone is hurt. Vascular structures are damaged in 20 % while airway-digestive structures are injured in 10 %. The zone I lesions are difficult to handle because of several anatomic reasons and the organs they include. The cases of two patients with vascular lesions in the neck zone I are presented. A review of the treatment of neck trauma lesions was carried out, making special emphasis on the ones in zone I. Several current tendencies in these patients handling are dealt with (AU).

Atypical suicides or the first undiagnosed autoerotic deaths in Europe?

Autoerotic accidental deaths (AAD) are increasingly reported deaths occurring during solitary sexual rituals used to enhance sexual excitement. The majority of these fatalities involve hanging or other form of self-inflicted asphyxia. The German medical literature, with the first recognized AAD published in the early 1900s, has antedated by decades the first significant AAD reports (1950-1953) in English. Early contributions in languages other than English and German are mostly overlooked in current AAD reviews, although AAD were recognised in some European countries as early as the 1940s and 1950s. For a variety of reasons, it is likely that, before the description of the first AAD in the medical literature, some asphyxia deaths have been classified as suicides with peculiar features, instead of as accidents resulting from life-threatening sexual practices. In the present study, we review and comment on three such atypical asphyxia deaths investigated in central Europe (Austria, Italy, Switzerland) during the period 1821 to 1927. The retrospective analysis of these cases revealed some circumstantial and individual features which nowadays could be linked to AAD, and disclosed the reluctance of medical examiners to analyse their motivational, and possibly sexual, background. The medico-legal approach to some autopsy findings of these cases also illustrates some controversial diagnostic issues regarding mechanical asphyxia, issues recurrently debated during the 19th century.

Revisiting the harem conspiracy and death of Ramesses III: anthropological, forensic, radiological, and genetic study.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the true character of the harem conspiracy described in the Judicial Papyrus of Turin and determine whether Ramesses III was indeed killed. DESIGN: Anthropological, forensic, radiological, and genetic study of the mummies of Ramesses III and unknown man E, found together and taken from the 20th dynasty of ancient Egypt (circa 1190-1070 BC). RESULTS: Computed tomography scans revealed a deep cut in Ramesses III's throat, probably made by a sharp knife. During the mummification process, a Horus eye amulet was inserted in the wound for healing purposes, and the neck was covered by a collar of thick linen layers. Forensic examination of unknown man E showed compressed skin folds around his neck and a thoracic inflation. Unknown man E also had an unusual mummification procedure. According to genetic analyses, both mummies had identical haplotypes of the Y chromosome and a common male lineage. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that Ramesses III was murdered during the harem conspiracy by the cutting of his throat. Unknown man E is a possible candidate as Ramesses III's son Pentawere.

Cranial trauma in ancient Greece: from Homer to classical authors.

This article presents literary evidence on traumatic cranio-cerebral injuries in ancient Greece from about 900 B.C. to 100 B.C. The main sources of information are epic and classic Greek texts of that period. Homer provides the first literary source of head trauma, which he portrayed in his epic poems The Iliad and The Odyssey. He describes 41 injuries of the head, face and cervical spine, of which all but two were fatal. Subsequently, other classical authors like Plato, Plutarch and others illustrate cases of cranial trauma that occurred mainly in the battlefields, during athletic games or in unusual accidents. They describe some interesting cases of head trauma in prominent men, such as the poet Aeschylos, the kings Pyrrhos and Kyros and Alexander the Great. Most of these descriptions show that the ancient Greeks possessed very good knowledge of the anatomy of the head and neck region and also of the pathophysiological consequences of trauma in the region.

Injuries to the head and neck in Homer's Iliad.

We have found and reported on all injuries to the head and neck described in Homer's Iliad, and give several particularly graphic examples.

Protocolo de cirugía selectiva en traumatismos penetrantes de cuello / Protocol of selective surgery in penetrating traumatisms of neck

Antecedentes: Los protocolos de exploración sistemática y selectiva de las heridas cervicales tienen similares cifras de morbilidad. Objetivos: Analizar los resultados de un protocolo de explotación selectiva en los traumatismos penetrantes de cuello. Lugar de aplicación: Hospital Público Municipal. Diseño: Retrospectivo. Población: 46 pacientes tratados desde mayo de 1989 hasta mayo de 2004. Método: Atención inicial según normas ATLS. Clasificación topográfica (Roon). Clasificación según la modalidad del traumatismo. Clasificación en grados de severidad de 1 a 4. Exploración inmediata en casos de heridas transfixiantes, hemorragía externa, hematoma, asfixia, estridor laríngeo, esfisema subcutáneo, aerorragia, hemoptisis o hemorragia intratorácica. Zona I: Considerar abordaje combinado. Zona I y II o compromiso neurológico: ecodoppler color o angiografía preoperatoria. Pacientes estables asintomáticos: conducta expectante, radiografía de columna cervical perfil, internación, tránsito faringoesofágico, endoscopias, etc. Lesión ósea o compromiso neurológico: Tomografía computada o Resonancia magnética. Contraindicamos estudios complementarios en pacientes inestables. Resultados: Heridas de arma de fuego: 29 (63%); heridas de arma blanca 14 (30,4%); heridas accidentales: 3 (6,5%). Cervicotomía exploradora inmediata: 21 casos (45,65%). Cervicotomía exploradora luego de observación inicial: 4 casos (8,7%). Exploración con anestesia local: 12 casos (26%). Observación y alta: 9 casos (19,5%). Mortalidad: 2 casos (4,34%). Cervicotomías negativas: 2 casos (4,34%). Morbilidad: 8 casos (17,4%). Conclusiones: Se obtuvieron resultados similares a protocolos selectivos que proponen la exploración de todas las lesiones de zona II, con un bajo porcentaje de cervicotomías no terapéuticas.

A stone at the Siege of Cyropolis and the death of Alexander the Great.

Alexander the Great was struck by a stone at the Siege of Cyropolis in 329 BC and was rendered temporarily blind and inaudible as a result. Although other authors have written extensively about the likely pathological effects of this injury, none have suggested carotid artery dissection as a possible cause. We present evidence that this should be considered as a differential diagnosis and how it might explain an unusual symptom seen at his deathbed in Babylon six years later.

Alexander the Great, the dahlia, and the tortoise.

Some of the problems of establishing the cause of the death of Alexander the Great are like the attempts to find causes other than hysteria for Anna O.'s symptoms. The more general problem of using plausibility as a criterion of the truth of such reconstructions are illustrated by the arguments embedded in Tom Stoppard's Arcadia.

Commentary. The diseases of Alexander the Great.

The accompanying articles that speculate that Alexander the Great had a traumatic carotid dissection or congenital cervical scoliosis demonstrate the difficulties in retrospective diagnosis as a historical enterprise. The extant primary sources were written centuries after Alexander's death and are ambiguous in their original languages, and even more so in translation. Thus we cannot be certain what illness Alexander actually had. Furthermore, anachronistic diagnosis removes Alexander from the medical context of this time, telling us little of historical significance about him. Such investigations also illustrate the more general limits that the absence of context imposes on the study of ancient history.

The avoidability of head and neck injuries in ice hockey: an historical review.

The number of minor traumatic brain injury (mTBI), cerebral concussions, is increasing and cannot be eliminated by any kind of equipment. Prevention strategies, such as the introduction of "checking from behind" rules have become effective in decreasing the number of severe spinal injuries. A new "head checking" rule should reduce mTBI in the same way in the following years. Mouthguards should be mandatory as an effective device for the prevention of dental and orofacial injuries, as well as reducing the incidence and severity of mTBI. A new internet database system, the International Sports Injury System (ISIS) should improve epidemiological analysis of head, face, and spinal injuries worldwide. ISIS should provide an internationally compatible system for continuous monitoring of risk factors, protective effects of equipment, and protective effects of equipment and effects of changes in rules through the years.

The fatal wound of Hector, according to a drawing by Peter Paul Rubens designed for tapestry weaving.

According to the Iliad(Chapter XXII, Verses 322-329), Hector, while fighting his last duel, was almost entirely protected by bronze armor, with only a small area "where the clavicle marks the boundary between neck and thorax" exposed. It was precisely into this area, "the shorter way to death," that Achilles thrust his lance. This fatal wound, although covering Hector with blood, allowed the victim to pronounce a few words. In designing the Story of Achilles, his fourth and last series of drawings especially designed for tapestry weaving, Rubens depicted Achilles stabbing Hector near the midline of his neck. There is evidence that Rubens was always well acquainted with the literary sources of his pictures. It is also likely that he became familiar with contemporary editions of the Iliad that were enhanced with commentaries. Realizing that the wound depicted in his original drawing should have prevented Hector from speaking, Rubens altered the scene, then showing the lance piercing the cervical vascular bundle. The careful scrutiny for literary accuracy that was typical of Rubens' artistic behavior did not prevent an additional minor imprecision in the final tapestry. Nevertheless, his outstanding expressive power enabled him to give form to a gigantic baroque representation of the death of Hector in masterly fashion.

The wounding of Alexander the Great in Cyropolis (329 BC): the first reported case of the syndrome of transient cortical blindness?

I believe that the transient blindness which presented Alexander the Great after his being wounded on his head and/or his neck by a stone from a catapult during the siege of Cyropolis (329 BC) was in all probability a case of transient cortical blindness that was recognized as a special entity in the 1960s. I reached this conclusion after the comparative study of the Emperor's clinical picture provided by ancient texts, especially those of Plutarch and Quintus Curtius Rufus, with that of a modern medical bibliography.