Investigation of bleeding focus in the intracranial vertebral artery with the use of posterior neck dissection method in traumatic basal subarachnoid hemorrhage

• Using new dissection method, we found intracranial artery tears in traumatic basal subarachnoid hemorrhage with frequency.
• The posterior neck dissection method is easy and will not cause artificial damage of the intracranial vertebral arteries.
• Three of the five cases studied showed intracranial vertebral artery rupture.
• One case involved a tear of the right terminal internal carotid artery.

Traumatic basal subarachnoid hemorrhage caused by minor blunt trauma to the head or neck can lead to rapid collapse and death. The vertebral arteries are the vessels most commonly involved in such cases, but it is very difficult to find the bleeding focus in the vertebral arteries in routine autopsy because of the location of these vessels. Using the posterior neck dissection method, which is relatively easy and avoids artificial damage to the intracranial portion of the vertebral arteries, authors have identified tear sites in the intracranial artery in four out of five consecutive traumatic basal subarachnoid hemorrhage cases. In this report we show that this new method is useful for cases of traumatic basal subarachnoid hemorrhage.