Type III occipital condylar fracture presenting with hydrocephalus, vertebral artery injury and vasospasm: case report.

Occipital condylar fractures (OCF) are rare and have a high mortality rate. We report a patient with OCF who presented with acute hydrocephalus and died from diffuse vasospasm secondary to vertebral artery injury. A 45-year-old man fell 20 feet from a deer stand and landed on his head. CT showed a type III OCF continuing to the anterior rim of the foramen magnum on the left, with a bone fragment pushing into the medulla, causing hydrocephalus. The patient was stabilized, and a four-vessel arteriogram showed diffuse vasospasm with complete occlusion of the left vertebral artery at the level of the OCF. To our knowledge, this is the first documented case of the conjunction of OCF, hydrocephalus, and vasospasm.