A 14-year-old girl is rushed to the emergency room after receiving a gunshot wound to the head and is pronounced dead on arrival. If this child died due to an immediate "blast effect" of the penetrating wound, the autopsy would likely show herniation of the tonsils of the cerebellum into which anatomic space?
Penetrating wounds produce hemorrhage and blast effects. The "blast effect" of a high-velocity projectile causes an immediate increase in supratentorial pressure and results in death because of impaction of the cerebellum and medulla into the foramen magnum. A low-velocity projectile increases the pressure at a more gradual rate through hemorrhage and edema. The other choices do not represent areas of herniation.Diagnosis: Bullet wound
Aqueduct of Sylvius
Central spinal canal
Foramen magnum
Foramen of Magendie
Central Nervous System