Fatal bleeding from a laceration of superficial temporal artery: A rare case

We report a case of a 34-year-old drunken male, who was found dead in his apartment. On scene inspection, the deceased body was found in the sitting position on a chair, and a massive arterial blood pattern was observed at the scene. First responders and the coroner visited the scene considered this case as a criminally suspicious due to arterial blood pattern on walls and excessive blood pool at the scene. At autopsy, a laceration was present on the left side of the scalp with an underlying transection of the left superficial temporalis artery. Subsequent histological examination of the arterial section established its transection and cellular response to injury. After careful perusal of CCTV camera footages, pre-autopsy CT, macroscopic examination of injury, histological examination of the transected artery, and toxicological analysis report, cause of death was given as exsanguination due to laceration of a superficial temporal artery following blunt force head trauma. The manner of death was accidental. Although it is not uncommon to see deaths of alcoholics following scalp trauma, the peculiarity of this case lies in the fact that no evidence of fatal accidental superficial temporal artery has ever been reported in the forensic literature. We also suggest that a thorough analysis of history, circumstances, and histologic examination, even of a transacted artery can provide medicolegal relevant data.