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 Vol. 12 No. 4, October 2004
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Right arrow Child Abuse and Neglect

AAP Grand Rounds 12:47 (2004)
© 2004 American Academy of Pediatrics

CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT

Distinguishing Abusive from Accidental Head Trauma

Source: Bechtel K, Stoessel K, Leventhal JM, et al. Characteristics that distinguish accidental from abusive injury in hospitalized young children with head trauma. Pediatrics. 2004;114:165–168.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

The first 20% of the full text of this article appears below.

A majority of children under the age of 2 who have serious or fatal head trauma have been victims of abuse.1,2 Nevertheless, major head injuries may occur in this same age group from accidental causes. These authors present a prospective study of children less than 2 years of age who were hospitalized at Yale-New Haven Children’s Hospital, Conn, with a diagnosis of head injury and who had computed tomography of the head performed as part of their evaluation. The children were classified as victims of inflicted or accidental head trauma based upon predetermined criteria that did not include the presence or absence of retinal hemorrhages. All patients in the study underwent a dilated ophthalmologic examination by a pediatric ophthalmologist.

The 67 children in the . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Betty Spivack, MD, FAAP
Pathology and Pediatrics, University of Louisville School of Medicine, and the Medical Examiner Division of the Kentucky Justice Cabinet, Louisville, KY