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Results for “Lightning Injuries”

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PubMed1998

Heart donation after lightning strike.

We present the first reported case of heart donation after lightning strike. Approximately 150 to 300 generally young and healthy people die from lightning strike in the United States each year. These unfortunate victims may make good heart donors. Pertinent pathophysiology of lightning strike is briefly reviewed.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

Cataracts, bilateral macular holes, and rhegmatogenous retinal detachment induced by lightning.

PURPOSE: To report ocular injuries, including a unilateral rhegmatogenous retinal detachment, induced by lightning. METHOD: Case report. A 30-year-old man was injured by lightning. RESULTS: The patient developed a severe decrease in visual acuity in both eyes, an afferent pupillary defect in his left eye, bilateral cataracts, posterior vitreous detachments, macular holes, and an inferotemporal retinal detachment with an associated flap retinal tear in his left eye. CONCLUSIONS: This is a case of bilateral cataracts, posterior vitreous detachments, macular holes, and a unilateral retinal detachment associated with lightning. We postulate that the heating of the retinal surface, the concussive forces on the eye, and a sudden lateral contraction of the attached vitreous resulted in bilateral posterior vitreous detachments and a unilateral peripheral retinal break.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

Ball lightning burn.

Ball lightning is a rare physical phenomenon, which is not yet completely explained. It is similar to lightning but with different, peculiar characteristics. It can be considered a mix of fire and electricity, concentrated in a fireball with a diameter of 20-cm that most commonly appears suddenly, even in indoor conditions, during a thunderstorm. It moves quickly for several meters, can change direction, and ultimately disappears. During a great storm, a 28-year-old man and his 5-year-old daughter sustained burn wounds after ball lightning came from the outdoors through a chimney. These two patients demonstrated signs of fire and electrical injuries. The father, who lost consciousness, sustained superficial second-degree burn wounds bilaterally on the zygomatic area and deep second-degree burn wounds on his right hand (total body surface area, 4%). His daughter demonstrated superficial second-degree burn wounds on the left part of the face and deep second-degree and third-degree burn wounds (total body surface area, 30%) on the left neck, both upper arms, and the back. In this article, the authors report the first two cases of burn injuries resulting from ball lightning contact indoors. The literature on this rare phenomenon is reviewed to elucidate the nature of ball lightning. Emphasis is placed on the nature of injuries after ball lightning contact, the therapy used, and the long-term complications.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Lightning-associated deaths--United States, 1980-1995.

A lightning strike can cause death or various injuries to one or several persons. The mechanism of injury is unique, and the manifestations differ from those of other electrical injuries. In the United States, lightning causes more deaths than do most other natural hazards (e.g., hurricanes and tornadoes), although the incidence of lightning-related deaths has decreased since the 1950s. The cases described in this report illustrate diverse circumstances in which deaths attributable to lightning can occur. This report also summarizes data from the Compressed Mortality File of CDC's National Center for Health Statistics on lightning fatalities in the United States from 1980 through 1995, when 1318 deaths were attributed to lightning.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

MR imaging findings in delayed reversible myelopathy from lightning strike.

Delayed spinal cord injury following high-voltage electrical injury is a rare but well-documented phenomenon. The MR imaging features of this entity, however, have not been well documented. We report the MR imaging findings in a case of delayed sensory and motor deficits following a lightning strike. MR imaging revealed hyperintense signal within the cord on T2-weighted and STIR images extending from C1 to C3. Axial images localized the hyperintense signal to the posterolateral region of the spinal cord bilaterally. Follow-up MR imaging 6 weeks later demonstrated resolution of abnormal cord signal intensity.

Humans↗
PubMed2002

A large group of children struck by lightning.

We report on the largest case to date of children with significant injuries from a single lightning strike. A retrospective analysis was done of the camping scene and injuries to 28 people (26 preadolescent girls and 2 adult supervisors) and 7 dogs from a documented lightning strike. Of the 35 victims sleeping in the tent, 4 girls and 4 dogs were fatally injured. The 2 adults were unharmed, but 23 of the children suffered injuries including burns (23), cataracts (8), macular holes (4), tympanic membrane rupture (2), and skull fracture (2). Many of these injuries occurred more frequently than would be expected from prior large reviews and reports.

Adult↗