Rupture of a giant middle cerebral aneurysm after blunt head injury.

ABSTRACT

A 20-year-old man was involved in a fight while under the influence of alcohol. He subsequently developed an intracerebral haemorrhage in the putamen with a minimal subarachnoid haemorrhage and died. An autopsy revealed a ruptured giant saccular aneurysm of the middle cerebral artery. We believe that the blunt head injury caused a rupture of the pre-existing giant saccular aneurysm either through the force transmitted from the blow, or by a possible transient elevation of the blood pressure secondary to the excitement of the fight, or by a combination of both factors.