Abstract

HOMICIDE BY CERVICAL SPINAL CORD GUNSHOT INJURY WITH SHOTGUN FIRE PELLETS: CASE REPORT

Author(s):Dana Turliuc, Serban Turliuc, Iustin Mihailov, Andrei Cucu, Gabriela Dumitrescu,Claudia Costea

This case present a rare forensic case of cervical spinal gunshot injury of a female by her husband, a professional hunter, during a family fight with a shotgun fire pellets. The gunshot destroyed completely the cervical spinal cord, without injury to the neck vessels and organs and with the patient survival for seven days. We discuss notions of judicial ballistics, assessment of the patient with spinal cord gunshot injury and therapeutic strategies. Even if cervical spine gunshot injuries are most of the times lethal for majority of patients, the surviving patients need the coordination of a multidisciplinary surgical team to ensure the optimal functional prognostic.

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