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Radiology in Suspected Child Abuse

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Forensic Aspects of Pediatric Fractures

Abstract

Even before Kempe published his now classic article on ‘the battered child syndrome’ in 1962 [1], radiologists drew attention to fractures that could really only be explained by the impact of external mechanical force. In 1946, Caffey was the first to describe the relation between the presence of multiple fractures of the long bones and subdural haematomas in six children in whom no previous trauma was known [2]. He thought it remarkable that in a number of children no new anomalies were found while hospitalised; however, some children showed new manifestations as soon as they returned home. Based on the fact that in children subdural haematomas are usually of traumatic origin, he suspected that this combination had a traumatic origin. In 1953, Silberman established that the combination of injuries as described by Caffey had to have a traumatic background [3]. In 1955, Woolley was the first to conclude that the found anomalies were the result of ‘intentionally’ inflicted physical injuries [4]. In 1957, 11 years after his original publication, Caffey concluded that abuse by either one or both parent(s) could be a possible explanation for this combination of injuries [5].

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pathology and Toxicology, Netherlands Forensic Institute, 24044, 2490, AA, The Hague, The Netherlands

    Rob A. C. Bilo MD

  2. Department of Radiology, Maastricht University Medical Center, 5800, 6202, AZ, Maastricht, The Netherlands

    Simon G. F. Robben MD, PhD

  3. Department of Radiology, Emma Children’s Hospital/Academic Medical Center Amsterdam, 22660, 1100, DD, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Rick R. van Rijn MD, PhD

Authors
  1. Rob A. C. Bilo MD
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  2. Simon G. F. Robben MD, PhD
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  3. Rick R. van Rijn MD, PhD
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Correspondence to Rob A. C. Bilo MD .

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© 2010 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Bilo, R.A.C., Robben, S.G.F., van Rijn, R.R. (2010). Radiology in Suspected Child Abuse. In: Forensic Aspects of Pediatric Fractures. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-78716-7_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-78716-7_8

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-78715-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-78716-7

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