title: Spinal nerve root β-APP staining in infants is not a reliable indicator of trauma.
abstract: This preliminary communication describes seven babies with β-amyloid precursor protein (βAPP) positive axonal swellings in nerve roots at multiple levels of the spinal cord. All seven babies died of natural causes. Two died in utero providing evidence for nerve root injury in the absence of trauma, two died within one day of birth and the possibility of birth related injury has to be considered. Three babies were over one month of age and had no history or pathological evidence of trauma. These findings show that if axonal injury is carefully sought in every infant death, not just in babies where trauma is suspected, it will be found in a proportion of babies dying from natural diseases. While spinal nerve root axonal injury in infants may suggest trauma, it is not, in itself, diagnostic of trauma.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuropathology, West Wing, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford OX23 9DU, UK. waney.squier@clneuro.ox.ac.uk
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Squier
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Scheimberg
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Smith
mesh_terms: D016564:Amyloid beta-Protein Precursor / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism*; D001344:Autopsy; D002423:Cause of Death; D020833:Diffuse Axonal Injury / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D049429:Forensic Pathology / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012494:Sampling Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology*; D013126:Spinal Nerve Roots / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D013194:Staining and Labeling; D013997:Time Factors; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D016564:Amyloid beta-Protein Precursor