Residual pellet in fetal brain tissue following a gunshot injury to a pregnant woman: a case report

Abstract

Vital functions and the effect of injuries on quality of life are important from a viewpoint of causation in willful injury crimes committed against a pregnant woman. In such conditions, which should be evaluated separately in criminal law and compensation law, permanent losses of organ function that may negatively affect the woman's fertility, the features of permanent functional impairments and premature birth of the fetus can be additive factors for the indemnification amount. In scientific literature, case reports addressing the morphological and physiological changes to the fetus due to firearm injury are rare. In the presented case, we aimed to evaluate the fetus's situation, following firearm injury to a 41-year-old woman at 27 weeks gestation. While the mother was living a healthy life, the significant problem of the child in the first four-year period of his development was hyperactivity. Evaluating the effect of the frontal lobe lesion on the psychiatric findings of the child is important.