Short Description or Definition
Pediatric abusive head trauma (AHT) is a form of inflicted traumatic brain injury in an infant or small child due to blunt trauma, being shaken, or a combination of both. Rapid rotation and movement, acceleration and deceleration changes, of the brain within the cranial vault of a small child result in significant neural trauma. The National Center for Injury Prevention and Control defines pediatric abusive head trauma as “an injury to the skull or intracranial contents of an infant or young child (< 5 years of age) due to inflicted blunt impact and/or violent shaking.” This definition excludes unintentional injuries and penetrating trauma (Parks et al. 2012).
Categorization
A form of child maltreatment or abuse, AHT occurs as a result of a baby’s weak neck muscles in relation to its proportionally large head...
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References and Readings
Barlow, K. M., Thomson, E., Johnson, D., & Minns, R. A. (2005). Late neurologic and cognitive sequelae of inflicted traumatic brain injury in infancy. Pediatrics, 116, 174–185.
Caffey, J. (1974). The whiplash-shaken infant syndrome: Manual shaking by the extremities with whiplash-induced intra cranial and intra ocular bleeding, linked with residual permanent damage and mental retardation. Pediatrics, 54(4), 396–403.
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National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Neurological Disorder & Stroke NINDS Shaken Baby Syndrome Information page. www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/shakenbaby
Niederkrotenthaler, T., Xu, L., Parks, S. E., & Sugerman, D. E. (2013). Descriptive factors of abusive head trauma in young children – United States, 2000–2009. Child Abuse & Neglect, 37, 446–455.
Parks, S. E., Annest, J. L., Hill, H. A., & Karch, D. L. (2012). Pediatric abusive head trauma: Recommended definitions for public health surveillance and research. Atlanta: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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Shaken Baby Association, Inc. www.shakenbaby.net
The National Center on SBS. www.dontshake.org
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Apps, J.A.N., Heffelfinger, A. (2018). Abusive Head Trauma. In: Kreutzer, J., DeLuca, J., Caplan, B. (eds) Encyclopedia of Clinical Neuropsychology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56782-2_1594-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56782-2_1594-2
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