Citation

Zhang JK, Botterbush KS, Del Valle AJ, Mattei TA. World Neurosurg. 2022; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.wneu.2022.03.071

PMID

35314409

Abstract

On the morning of July 11, 1804, Major General Alexander Hamilton, an American statesman and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, boarded a barge from Manhattan to the New Jersey shore. There, he met his political and private opponent, Aaron Burr, for a duel during which Burr shot a bullet that entered Hamilton's torso, fractured a false rib, passed through internal organs, and ultimately lodged itself in one of his upper lumbar vertebrae. In this unique historical analysis of a pivotal event in American history, we provide a comprehensive discussion of the spinal injuries sustained by Alexander Hamilton, with special consideration of anatomic details and ballistics of the time. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first thorough examination of the spinal injuries sustained by the prolific Founding Father and mind behind the American financial system, Alexander Hamilton.

Language: en

Keywords

Alexander Hamilton; American history; duel; spinal cord injury; spine injury; vertebral fracture