A fatal brain injury caused by a needlefish

Abstract

A traumatic internal carotid-cavernous sinus fistula due to a penetrating injury caused by a needlefish is described.

Penetrating injury of the maxilla by needlefish jaws

“…This hydrodynamic shape and fin arrangement enable the needlefish to accelerate rapidly, thus when leaping out of the water due to fright, the needlefish can reach a speed of up to 60 km/h (Link et al, 1999). These leaps have resulted in injury or even death to fishermen and swimmers (McCabe et al, 1978;Barss, 1982). This behaviour is not the result of intentional attack by the Penetrating injury of the maxilla by needlefish jaws 237 needlefish, but is rather their method of escaping danger (Randall, 1995).…”

“…One of them resulted in death due to a carotid-cavernous fistula (McCabe et al, 1978). The second report describes a retrobulbar trajectory that caused a penetrating globe injury and damaged orbital contents (Thakker and Usha, 2006).…”

“…However, human injuries, particularly those caused by needlefish, are common in Oceania (Barss, 1982;Labbe et al, 1995) and were also reported from Hawaii (McCabe et al, 1978), India (Thakker and Usha, 2006), the Red Sea (Bendet et al, 1995) and the American (Link et al, 1999) and European (Kerkhoffs et al, 2003) coasts of the Atlantic Ocean. Such injuries can be hazardous and indeed at least 13 fatal cases have already been reported (McCabe et al, 1978;Barss, 1982). This is the first report of a needlefish injury in the Mediterranean basin.…”

Two Cases of Penetrating Abdominal Injury From Needlefish Impalement

“…Scattered reports worldwide have come from Hawaii, India, Israel, and the Red Sea, as well as the American and European Atlantic coasts (5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10). The injuries can be critical or even fatal (5). We report two cases of people critically injured from penetrating abdominal stab wounds inflicted by needlefish impalement.…”

“…The majority of reported cases of injuries from needlefish ( Figure 1) have been in Oceania, particularly the New Caledonian lagoon region (3,4). Scattered reports worldwide have come from Hawaii, India, Israel, and the Red Sea, as well as the American and European Atlantic coasts (5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10). The injuries can be critical or even fatal (5).…”