Birth trauma to the vertebral arteries.

Birth is a very traumatic event. This is particularly emphasized by the frequency of intracranial haemorrhage and cerebral damage in the newborn infant. However, the greatest manipulative strain in all methods of delivery is imposed on the infant's neck and it is therefore surprising that there have been very few investigations of this region except following breech delivery. Moreover none of the reports records the effects of trauma on the cervical portions of the vertebral arteries, two of the principal vessels supplying the brain. It is the purpose of this paper to draw attention to traumatic lesions in the necks of infants delivered by a variety of methods who died round about the time of birth, and to indicate their possible significance in the production of damage to the brain.