Pediatric Abusive Head Trauma: A Systematic Review

Abusive head trauma (AHT) represents a commonly misdiagnosed condition. In fact, there is no pathognomonic sign that allows the diagnosis in children. Therefore, it is such an important medico-legal challenge to evaluate reliable diagnostic tools. The aim of this review is to evaluate the current scientific evidence to assess what the best practice is in order to diagnose AHT. We have focused particularly on evaluating the importance of circumstantial evidence, clinical history, the use of postmortem radiological examinations (such as CT and MRI), and the performance of the autopsy. After autopsy, histological examination of the eye and brain play an important role, with attention paid to correlation with symptoms found in vivo.

Automated summary

Abusive head trauma is often misdiagnosed, with no definitive signs for diagnosis in children. Reliable diagnostic tools, including circumstantial evidence, clinical history, radiological examinations, and autopsy, are crucial for accurate diagnosis. Histological examination of eye and brain tissues post-autopsy is important for correlating findings with symptoms observed in living patients.