Fig 1.
Orthogonal digital radiographs of penetrating ballistic injury in a deer with cranial/brain shot placement.
Orthogonal digital radiographs of penetrating ballistic injury in a deer shot with point of aim targeted at the cranium/brain (A) lateral, and (B) ventrodorsal. The caudal skull is the point of impact. There is complete destruction of the osseous calvarium with fragmentation of the dorsal and mid calvarium, frontoparietal region and caudal occiput. Notice the orbital trauma which correlated to the gross finding of globe proptosis. There is widespread traumatic brain injury, collapse of the cranial vault, extensive destruction of the ethmoid labyrinth, herniation of the brain through the cribriform plate and disruption of the hyoid apparatus with pharyngeal swelling and gas tracking caudally through the deep cervical fascial planes. Numerous amorphous, distorted (submillimeter to <2 cm) ballistic lead fragments overlie the resultant multiple skull bone fragments that arise from the skull. The mandibular bone fragments are displaced caudally and temporomandibular joint subluxation. A lesion such as the one described here resulted in instantaneous death.
Table 1.
Mean (SD) time to cessation of physical and physiological parameters following ballistic injury on Philippine deer.
Mean (SD) time to cessation in seconds of physical and physiological parameters following ballistic injury associated with three defined shot placements on Philippine deer.
Table 2.
Select data of adult Philippine deer.
Philippine deer physiological responses and cessation time in seconds following being shot in the cranium or cervical spine with a .223 caliber rifle from 1–16 April 2015.
Fig 2.
Orthogonal digital radiographs of penetrating ballistic injury in a deer with C1-3 shot placement.
Orthogonal digital radiographs of penetrating ballistic injury in a deer shot with the point of aim targeted at C1-3 (A), (C), (E) lateral; and (B), (D), (F) ventrodorsal. The cranial cervical spine is the point of impact. Regional destruction is noted. Numerous amorphous, distorted (submillimeter to <2 cm) ballistic lead fragments overlie the resultant skull and C1-2 bone fragments. Bone fragments have a “pulverized” appearance resulting from combined ballistic kinetic features related to velocity, mass, and surface area, and the rotational forces (or tumbling) imposed on the projectile when it impacts the target. Notice the comminuted, lucent fracture lines (arrows) coursing rostrally through the calvarium and fracture of the occiput, occipital condyle, and petrous temporal bones. This demonstrates the explosive nature of the impact. There is extensive fragmentation and disruption of the normal architecture of C1 and C2, the vertebral spinal canal alignment and the normal anatomic relationships of the atlanto-occipital junction to C2. Numerous amorphous ballistic lead fragments overlie the many bones of the affected cranial cervical spine demonstrating the transfer of kinetic energy to the tissues beyond the path of the projectile and the related collateral tissue damage. There is complete disruption of the spinal canal with compression and collapse of C1-2 and associated soft tissue swelling (edema and hematoma formation). As the point of impact moves caudally (at C2 and C3), the caudal calvarium is preserved with deformation and collapse of the vertebral arch, lamina, and intervertebral disc space at C2-3. Note the bullet fragments in the spinal canal at C2, missile fragmentation and the circumferential destruction and obliteration of the spinal canal. Although not visible, the spinal cord was also obliterated (confirmed on post-mortem evaluation). In other cases of cranial cervical point of impact, traumatic disarticulation (subluxation/luxation) was observed. The soft tissue destruction can extend ventrally to the laryngeal soft tissues resulting in gas tracking through the deep fascial planes of the neck, and pharyngeal and esophageal perforation. In (G) and (H), the gas throughout the length of the esophagus (asterisk) likely resulted from post-mortem tissue handling.
Fig 3.
Orthogonal digital radiographs of penetrating ballistic injury in a deer with C4-7 shot placement.
Orthogonal digital radiographs of penetrating ballistic injury in a deer shot with C4-7 as the targeted point of aim (A) lateral, and (B) ventrodorsal. The caudal cervical spine is the point of entry. Regional destruction is again noted. There is extensive, comminution of C4, dorsal angulation of the spine, involvement of the articular processes and extensive soft tissue swelling. Metallic projectile fragments are noted within the vertebral canal. When present at the intervertebral disc space, projectile fragments may also be associated with nucleus pulposus extrusion (not shown).
Fig 4.
Orthogonal digital radiographs of penetrating ballistic injury in a deer with caudal cervical spine shot placement.
Orthogonal digital radiographs of penetrating ballistic injury in a deer shot with the caudal cervical spine as the point of aim (A) lateral, and (B) ventrodorsal. C6-7 is the point of entry. There is circumferential trauma extending from C5-6 to the T3 and ribs. There is extensive disruption of spinal alignment with cranial displacement of the first three ribs and ventrocaudal rotation of the cranial thoracic spine. A complete distortion of the anatomic relationship between the neck and thorax is noted. There is luxation of the C5-6 articular processes and obliteration of the normal contours of C7 and the spinous processes of T1-3. Notice how the skull, cranial cervical spine and disarticulated (but intact) T1-3 vertebral bodies are preserved with the exception of a small chip fracture from the caudodorsal aspect of T1 which is likely secondary to a projectile fragment. Gas within the deep soft tissues of the neck, cranioventral mediastinum and thoracic inlet with a pneumothorax and atelectatic cranial lung field (which is partially attributed to post-mortem tissue handling). Despite the overwhelmingly destructive tissue damage, the injuries and immediate incapacitation associated with lower cervical targeting were sub-lethal, and the target remained conscious and aware. The caudal cervical impact did not result in satisfactory euthanasia.