Serious head injury in infants: accident or abuse?
The medical records and computed tomography (CT) scans of all children less than 1 year of age admitted to the hospital with head injury over a 2-year period were reviewed. Sixty-four percent of all head injuries, excluding uncomplicated skull fracture, and 95% of serious intracranial injuries were the result of child abuse. The occurrence of intracranial injury in infants, in the absence of a history of significant accidental trauma, such as a motor vehicle accident, constitutes grounds for an official child abuse investigation.
D000059:Accidents; D000063:Accidents, Traffic; D001924:Brain Concussion / Q000209:etiology; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000209:etiology; D002543:Cerebral Hemorrhage / Q000209:etiology; D002649:Child Abuse; D006259:Craniocerebral Trauma / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D012886:Skull / Q000293:injuries; D012887:Skull Fractures / Q000209:etiology