Cargando…

Shaken Baby Syndrome: Magnetic Resonance Imaging Features in Abusive Head Trauma

In the context of child abuse spectrum, abusive head trauma (AHT) represents the leading cause of fatal head injuries in children less than 2 years of age. Immature brain is characterized by high water content, partially myelinated neurons, and prominent subarachnoid space, thus being susceptible of...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Cartocci, Gaia, Fineschi, Vittorio, Padovano, Martina, Scopetti, Matteo, Rossi-Espagnet, Maria Camilla, Giannì, Costanza
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7912837/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33535601
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/brainsci11020179
_version_ 1783656668077228032
author Cartocci, Gaia
Fineschi, Vittorio
Padovano, Martina
Scopetti, Matteo
Rossi-Espagnet, Maria Camilla
Giannì, Costanza
author_facet Cartocci, Gaia
Fineschi, Vittorio
Padovano, Martina
Scopetti, Matteo
Rossi-Espagnet, Maria Camilla
Giannì, Costanza
author_sort Cartocci, Gaia
collection PubMed
description In the context of child abuse spectrum, abusive head trauma (AHT) represents the leading cause of fatal head injuries in children less than 2 years of age. Immature brain is characterized by high water content, partially myelinated neurons, and prominent subarachnoid space, thus being susceptible of devastating damage as consequence of acceleration–deceleration and rotational forces developed by violent shaking mechanism. Diagnosis of AHT is not straightforward and represents a medical, forensic, and social challenge, based on a multidisciplinary approach. Beside a detailed anamnesis, neuroimaging is essential to identify signs suggestive of AHT, often in absence of external detectable lesions. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) represents the radiation-free modality of choice to investigate the most typical findings in AHT, such as subdural hematoma, retinal hemorrhage, and hypoxic-ischemic damage and it also allows to detect more subtle signs as parenchymal lacerations, cranio-cervical junction, and spinal injuries. This paper is intended to review the main MRI findings of AHT in the central nervous system of infants, with a specific focus on both hemorrhagic and non-hemorrhagic injuries caused by the pathological mechanisms of shaking. Furthermore, this review provides a brief overview about the most appropriate and feasible MRI protocol to help neuroradiologists identifying AHT in clinical practice.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-7912837
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2021
publisher MDPI
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-79128372021-02-28 Shaken Baby Syndrome: Magnetic Resonance Imaging Features in Abusive Head Trauma Cartocci, Gaia Fineschi, Vittorio Padovano, Martina Scopetti, Matteo Rossi-Espagnet, Maria Camilla Giannì, Costanza Brain Sci Review In the context of child abuse spectrum, abusive head trauma (AHT) represents the leading cause of fatal head injuries in children less than 2 years of age. Immature brain is characterized by high water content, partially myelinated neurons, and prominent subarachnoid space, thus being susceptible of devastating damage as consequence of acceleration–deceleration and rotational forces developed by violent shaking mechanism. Diagnosis of AHT is not straightforward and represents a medical, forensic, and social challenge, based on a multidisciplinary approach. Beside a detailed anamnesis, neuroimaging is essential to identify signs suggestive of AHT, often in absence of external detectable lesions. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) represents the radiation-free modality of choice to investigate the most typical findings in AHT, such as subdural hematoma, retinal hemorrhage, and hypoxic-ischemic damage and it also allows to detect more subtle signs as parenchymal lacerations, cranio-cervical junction, and spinal injuries. This paper is intended to review the main MRI findings of AHT in the central nervous system of infants, with a specific focus on both hemorrhagic and non-hemorrhagic injuries caused by the pathological mechanisms of shaking. Furthermore, this review provides a brief overview about the most appropriate and feasible MRI protocol to help neuroradiologists identifying AHT in clinical practice. MDPI 2021-02-01 /pmc/articles/PMC7912837/ /pubmed/33535601 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/brainsci11020179 Text en © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Review
Cartocci, Gaia
Fineschi, Vittorio
Padovano, Martina
Scopetti, Matteo
Rossi-Espagnet, Maria Camilla
Giannì, Costanza
Shaken Baby Syndrome: Magnetic Resonance Imaging Features in Abusive Head Trauma
title Shaken Baby Syndrome: Magnetic Resonance Imaging Features in Abusive Head Trauma
title_full Shaken Baby Syndrome: Magnetic Resonance Imaging Features in Abusive Head Trauma
title_fullStr Shaken Baby Syndrome: Magnetic Resonance Imaging Features in Abusive Head Trauma
title_full_unstemmed Shaken Baby Syndrome: Magnetic Resonance Imaging Features in Abusive Head Trauma
title_short Shaken Baby Syndrome: Magnetic Resonance Imaging Features in Abusive Head Trauma
title_sort shaken baby syndrome: magnetic resonance imaging features in abusive head trauma
topic Review
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7912837/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33535601
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/brainsci11020179
work_keys_str_mv AT cartoccigaia shakenbabysyndromemagneticresonanceimagingfeaturesinabusiveheadtrauma
AT fineschivittorio shakenbabysyndromemagneticresonanceimagingfeaturesinabusiveheadtrauma
AT padovanomartina shakenbabysyndromemagneticresonanceimagingfeaturesinabusiveheadtrauma
AT scopettimatteo shakenbabysyndromemagneticresonanceimagingfeaturesinabusiveheadtrauma
AT rossiespagnetmariacamilla shakenbabysyndromemagneticresonanceimagingfeaturesinabusiveheadtrauma
AT giannicostanza shakenbabysyndromemagneticresonanceimagingfeaturesinabusiveheadtrauma