Description
The specimen shows a cross section of the trachea with, anteriorly, a track leading to the innominate
artery also shown in cross section.
History
This young man was admitted to hospital following a motor vehicle accident in which he
had been thrown from the vehicle, sustaining a fracture dislocation in the region of the second and
third cervical vertebrae. He survived in hospital for 12 days, when he died following a massive
haemorrhage from the trachea. At autopsy an ulcer 1.5 cm was seen in the larynx; this had
penetrated to the oesophagus; there was a further ulcer in the trachea some 3.5 cm above the carina
which had penetrated the innominate artery.