Cerebral Tissue Pulmonary Embolization Due to Head Trauma: A Case Report with Immunohistochemical Confirmation
Davis, GJ
Asst. medical examiner, asst. chief medical examiner, chief medical examiner, and asst. prof. of pathology, respectively, Office of the Chief Medical Examiner and Dept. of Pathology, Univ. of Louisville School of Medicine, Louisville, KY.

McCloud, LC
Asst. medical examiner, asst. chief medical examiner, chief medical examiner, and asst. prof. of pathology, respectively, Office of the Chief Medical Examiner and Dept. of Pathology, Univ. of Louisville School of Medicine, Louisville, KY.

Nichols II, GR
Asst. medical examiner, asst. chief medical examiner, chief medical examiner, and asst. prof. of pathology, respectively, Office of the Chief Medical Examiner and Dept. of Pathology, Univ. of Louisville School of Medicine, Louisville, KY.

Martin, AW
Asst. medical examiner, asst. chief medical examiner, chief medical examiner, and asst. prof. of pathology, respectively, Office of the Chief Medical Examiner and Dept. of Pathology, Univ. of Louisville School of Medicine, Louisville, KY.


Abstract
Pulmonary embolization of cerebral tissue as the result of severe head trauma is an uncommon, if not rare, phenomenon, and few cases have been reported in the literature. The authors discuss the case of a 51-year-old male who died six days after suffering extensive head trauma in a motor vehicle collision. At autopsy, white-gray emboli were found in several subsegmental pulmonary arteries. The results of histologic examination with the hematoxylineosin stain gave the impression that the emboli were necrotic cerebral tissue; however, routine special stains for neural tissue produced inconclusive results. Immunohistochemical staining of the emboli with monoclonal mouse anti-human neurofilament protein (Dako Corp., Carpinteria, California) confirmed the cerebral nature of the emboli. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first reported case of pulmonary embolization of cerebral tissue confirmed by immunohistochemistry.

Keywords:
cerebral tissue, embolisms, forensic science, immunohistochemistry, pathology and biology, tissues (biology)

Paper ID: JFS363910921

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Author Davis GJ, McCloud LC, Nichols GR, II, Martin AW Title Cerebral Tissue Pulmonary Embolization Due to Head Trauma: A Case Report with Immunohistochemical Confirmation Symposium , Committee on