Mine explosion: no skin, bone, or visceral consequences seen at AUTOPSY (death in seven days) except slight LOCALIZED MENINGEAL HEMORRHAGE.
A soldier entered Val-de-Grâce February 27, 1915, in a state of confusion following mine explosion the night before. He was delirious, thought himself on leave, and had spells of excitement. Lumbar puncture, February 29, showed a slightly darkened fluid, with approximately normal amount of albumin, one or two lymphocytes and rare red blood cells.
A brief period of slight improvement followed, but the restlessness and delirium increased once more, became particularly severe March 3, and the patient died on the night of the third, seven days after the explosion.
The autopsy showed slightly congested lungs; no other lesion except a sharply defined hemorrhage in the cervical spinal meninges and over the meninges of the temporal and occipital lobes. Microscopic section of the brain failed to show any hemorrhages within the brain substance.
Here is a case of death following explosion without external wound. The meningeal hemorrhages are hardly enough to explain the death. The explanation of the death must probably be made after histological examination.