Nodding Face Sign

 

                                                                   Base Of Skull

         

                                                                     

                             Arthur Keith: Base Of Skull Fractures  = Hinge Fractures 

Arthur Keith (1900s)

• The British anatomist Sir Arthur Keith (1866–1955) is often credited with describing the fracture pattern where the skull base splits transversely through the middle cranial fossa.

• He likened it to a "hinge" because the skull vault could essentially move like two flaps, hinged at the posterior part of the base.

                                         

Hinge Fracture Of Skull

Nodding Face 

•  Hinge fracture, the skull base splits transversely through the middle cranial fossa, often across the sella turcica.

• This creates two “flaps” of the skull base that can move relative to each other, almost like a hinge of a door.

• Because of this mobility, when the head is lifted or handled during autopsy, the face can appear to nod up and down.

• This peculiar movement is called the “Nodding Face Sign.”

Quotes

Snapshot