Fatal fall causing isolated thoracic impalement with bi-ventricular cardiac rupture

Abstract

Falls from a height usually cause blunt trauma involving multiple body regions, but penetrating injuries are relatively uncommon; they occur when a rigid object penetrates the body. This can cause catastrophic internal damage depending on the structures involved. We report a fatal case of isolated thoracic impalement in a 49-year-old man who reportedly fell from a tree onto a pointed wooden stave. He was pronounced dead on arrival at hospital. Medico-legal autopsy revealed a penetrating injury traversing the thorax from the left posterolateral chest to the right upper anterolateral chest, with a flat wooden stave found in situ along the wound track. Internal examination demonstrated lacerations of the left lung, pericardium and posterior walls of both ventricles. No additional injuries were identified, and toxicological analysis was negative. Scene investigation confirmed that the wooden stave had been secured to the base of the tree to support a creeping plant and its orientation corresponded with the trajectory of the wound track. The injuries were incompatible with survival and death would have occurred rapidly due to catastrophic cardiac damage. The death was therefore determined to be accidental. This case highlights the importance of correlating autopsy findings with scene investigation when evaluating unusual penetrating injuries associated with falls from a height.