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Updated: Aug 19, 2026

A Contusive Model of Unilateral Cervical Spinal Cord Injury Using the Infinite Horizon Impactor
Published on: July 24, 2012
The cervical spine in fatal motor vehicle accidents
J Leditschke1, R M Anderson, W S Hare
1Victorian Institute of Forensic Pathology, South Melbourne.
Abstract:
Of 100 fatal accident cases involving motor vehicles, 60 showed damage to the cervical spine, involving bony or disc damage in 31 and focal haemorrhages in another 29. In 8 cases, pre-autopsy radiology failed to detect lesions which were found by radiology and pathological examination of the post-autopsy specimen. Most of the lesions missed were at the C6-7 region. In some cases, the initial pathological examination 'missed' laterally placed fractures and small chip fractures. Narrow cervical canals in the elderly indicated advanced spondylosis.
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