The Lucid Interval of Tsarevich Ivan Ivanovich Could Have Been Due to an Epidural Hematoma

On November 15, 1581, during a dispute at the Alexandrova Sloboda fortress, Tsar Ivan IV of Russia, Ivan the Terrible, struck his 27-year-old son Ivan Ivanovich on the temple with his scepter (Fig. 1). Boris Godunov, who witnessed the incident, attempted to intervene but himself received blows. The Tsar threw himself upon his son, trying to stop the bleeding, while repeatedly shouting: "Cursed be! I have killed my son!" The young man briefly regained consciousness and is said to have uttered: "I die as a devoted son and the humblest servant." Over the following days, the Tsar prayed for a miracle, but it was in vain, and the tsarevich died 4 days later, on November 19.1 2 3 4