Posttraumatic cerebral infarction resulting from carotid or cerebral artery
occlusion is rare. Traumatic dissection of the carotid artery is the most
frequent cause of infarction, whereas posttraumatic thrombosis of the cereb
ral artery is very rare. The authors describe a case of posttraumatic throm
bosis of the left middle cerebral artery. Early in the morning, a 16-year-o
ld boy was found unconscious in the parking lot of a supermarket. He had re
ceived fist blows and kicks to the head, face, body, back, and hip during t
he night. Computed tomography 10 hours after the violence revealed a gross
cerebral infarction in the area of the left middle cerebral artery. He died
9 days after the violence. The autopsy revealed a thrombosis in the left m
iddle cerebral artery. Microscopically, granulation tissue in the intima an
d a rupture of the internal elastic lamina were observed near the beginning
of the artery. It was concluded that the blows to the head and face caused
a partial rupture in the arterial wall, leading to thrombosis and cerebral
infarction.