SUBARACHNOIDAL HAEMORRHAGE AND SUDDEN UNEXPECTED DEATH A Medico-Legal Material

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Abstract
One hundred and thirty forensic cases of sudden unexpected death, following autopsy verified subarachnoid hemorrhage, have been examined. There were 77 men and 53 women; among the men 62 cases were non-traumatic and 15 cases were traumatic; the women all suffered non-traumatic hemorrhages. A ruptured aneurysm in an artery was demonstrated frequently. Provoking, that is releasing, factors were found in 62% of the 115 non-traumatically released hemorrhages. At the moment of hemorrhage 57% were exposed to physiological hypertension; at rest or sleeping were 20%. Most frequently the aneurysms developed following congenital or acquired defects in the vascular wall. All defects can result in aneurysm formation. The aneurysm can either degenerate, and so avoid discovery, it can grow, or it can rupture. From a purely physical point of view a hypothesis dealing with rupture of an aneurysm, dependent on a critical size fixed on the ratio of the volume of the aneurysm and the area of the opening of the aneurysmal sac into the "mother vessel", is presented.