Massive Brain Tissue and Fat Pulmonary Embolism following Severe Head Injury

Abstract

The case described is that of a 60-year-old male who fell from a ladder and sustained a severe fracture of the skull. At post-mortem an established infarct of the right lower lung lobe was found, related to an unusually pale embolus in the lobar artery and its branches. Histological examination demonstrated the embolic material to be composed of brain tissue.

Tissue embolism to the pulmonary tree is a frequent finding in traumatic deaths but the unusual nature of this case is worthy of note.