Deborah Doroshow, HMS III
Gillian Lieberman, MD
Trauma X in the Infant
Deborah Doroshow, HMS III
Gillian Lieberman, MD
2
Deborah Doroshow, HMS III
Gillian Lieberman, MD
Infant Abuse
• In 2004, approximately 872,000
children were victims of child abuse
or neglect.
• Children under 1 year of age
accounted for 45% of these victims.
3
Deborah Doroshow, HMS III
Gillian Lieberman, MD
An Incidental Finding
• 2 month old boy with 2 days of bilious
vomiting immediately after feedings
• KUB done at OSH to r/o SBO; possible
dilated loop of small bowel and question of
healing posterior R 6th rib fracture
• Transferred to CHB for further evaluation of
emesis and possible nonaccidental trauma
4
Deborah Doroshow, HMS III
Gillian Lieberman, MD
Initial Evaluation at CHB
• Repeat KUB showed paucity of gas,
but a normal UGI study ruled out
volvulus
• However, KUB also demonstrated
multiple rib fractures
5
Deborah Doroshow, HMS III
Gillian Lieberman, MD
Our pt: Multiple rib fractures on KUB
Healing
fracture on
lateral rib with
soft tissue
swelling
Image courtesy of Dr. Velez
and Dr. Hines-Peralta,
Children’s Hospital Boston
6
Deborah Doroshow, HMS III
Gillian Lieberman, MD
Our pt: Multiple rib fractures on KUB
Image courtesy of Dr. Velez and
Dr. Hines-Peralta, Children’s
Hospital Boston
Healing
posterior rib
fracture
with large
callus
7
Deborah Doroshow, HMS III
Gillian Lieberman, MD
Concern for Child Abuse
High specificity:
•Classic metaphyseal lesions
•Rib fractures, especially posterior
•Scapular fractures
•Spinous process fractures
•Sternal fractures
Moderate specificity:
•Multiple fractures, especially bilateral
•Fractures of different ages
•Epiphyseal separations
•Vertebral body fractures and
subluxations
•Digital fractures
•Complex skull fractures
Common but low
specificity:
•Subperiosteal new bone
formation
•Clavicular fractures
•Long bone shaft fractures
•Linear skull fractures
Kleinman, PK (ed). Diagnostic Imaging of Child Abuse, ed 2, Boston, Mosby, 1998.
8
Deborah Doroshow, HMS III
Gillian Lieberman, MD
Injuries Characteristic of Infant Abuse
• Rib fractures, especially posterior
• Classic metaphyseal lesions
• Subdural hemorrhage
• Any fracture in a non-ambulating
infant is concerning to some degree
9
Deborah Doroshow, HMS III
Gillian Lieberman, MD
Full Trauma X Workup Begun
• Child Protection Services
contacted
• Patient admitted overnight
• Guard stationed outside room to
prevent flight
• Mother denies abuse; says no one
else in house has abused the child
10
Deborah Doroshow, HMS III
Gillian Lieberman, MD
What tests to order?
• Skeletal survey:
– ACR/AAP recommendations: 19 plain films covering
entire body
– all abnormal areas should be viewed in 2 projections
– Oblique views of thorax if rib fractures suspected
– Four views of skull if fractures suspected (frontal, 2
lateral, Towne’s for occipital injury)
– Role of scintigraphy: not part of routine survey but
helpful for identifying otherwise overlooked rib fractures
• Neuroimaging:
– CT to evaluate acute hemorrhage
– MRI if CT positive or if CT negative but strong suspicion
of intracranial injury
11
Deborah Doroshow, HMS III
Gillian Lieberman, MD
Our pt: Formal Skeletal Survey
Image courtesy of Dr. Velez
and Dr. Hines-Peralta,
Children’s Hospital Boston
• Posterior fractures
of ribs 5 and 6
• Lateral fracture of
rib 5
• Right clavicular
fracture
12
Deborah Doroshow, HMS III
Gillian Lieberman, MD
Rib fractures in infant abuse
• Typically result from two hand
anteroposterior compression of the
rib cage
• Common fracture patterns:
– Bilateral
– located at the same position on
adjacent ribs
– multiple fractures in one rib
13
Deborah Doroshow, HMS III
Gillian Lieberman, MD
Rib fractures in infant abuse
• Posterior: lever
effect, ventral
surface first
• Lateral: buckling
effect, medial to
lateral
• Anterior:
costochondral
junction
Lonergan G, Baker A, Morey M, and Boos S. From the Archives of the AFIP: Child
Abuse: Radiologic-Pathologic Correlation. Radiographics 2003; 23: 811-845.
14
Deborah Doroshow, HMS III
Gillian Lieberman, MD
Identifying rib fractures
• Acute rib fractures can be very difficult to
see, especially if they are incomplete,
nondisplaced, or oblique to the x-ray beam
– Importance of oblique views and perhaps bone
scintigraphy
• Role of callus formation
– E.g. lateral rib fractures appearing outside pleural
margin
– Costochondral junction fractures are probably
more common than we think because there is
little new bone formation afterwards
15
Deborah Doroshow, HMS III
Gillian Lieberman, MD
Rib fractures and CPR
• Extremely rare in otherwise healthy
babies
• Posterior rib fractures do not occur
with CPR, making them
pathognomonic for child abuse
16
Deborah Doroshow, HMS III
Gillian Lieberman, MD
The Classic Metaphyseal Lesion
• A classic injury in child abuse,
especially in infants
• Occurs when the child is
twisted or pulled by an extremity
or shaken entirely, causing
shearing injury
• A series of microfractures
through the most immature part
of the metaphysis, the primary
spongiosa, curving upward at
the end to undercut the
subperiosteal bony collar
Lonergan G, Baker A, Morey M, and Boos S. From the
Archives of the AFIP: Child Abuse: Radiologic-Pathologic
Correlation. Radiographics 2003; 23: 811-845.
17
Deborah Doroshow, HMS III
Gillian Lieberman, MD
Corner or Bucket Handle Fracture?
Lonergan G, Baker A, Morey M, and Boos S. From the Archives of the AFIP: Child Abuse: Radiologic-Pathologic
Correlation. Radiographics 2003; 23: 811-845.
18
Deborah Doroshow, HMS III
Gillian Lieberman, MD
How to spot a healing CML:
Companion patient #1
• Most reliable sign:
extension of physeal
lucency into the
metaphysis (hypertrophic
chondrocyte activity due
to vascular disruption at
chondro-osseous
junction)
• +/- fracture line, sclerosis
MedPix Medical Image Database,
http://rad.usuhs.edu/medpix/medpix_home.html
19
Deborah Doroshow, HMS III
Gillian Lieberman, MD
The Great Imitators
• Rickets: metaphyseal fractures,
subperiosteal new bone formation
• Metabolic bone disease of prematurity: ribs,
long bones
• Osteogenesis imperfecta: diaphyseal
fractures most common; metaphyseal
fractures occur, but don’t look like CMLs
– typically have diffuse osteopenia and
bowing deformities; blue sclerae in type I
20
Deborah Doroshow, HMS III
Gillian Lieberman, MD
The Great Imitators
• Congenital syphilis: lesions may look identical
to CMLs
• Accidental trauma: especially long bone
fractures
– Important to consider child’s age in the context of the
history provided
• Obstetric trauma: most commonly clavicle
fractures
– Callus formation is rapid and extensive; if child is >11 days
old without callus formation, injury is not birth-related
21
Deborah Doroshow, HMS III
Gillian Lieberman, MD
Intracranial injury
• The most common and specific form
of intracranial injury in infant abuse is
the subdural hematoma
• “Shaken baby” theory of shear injury
• Typically crescentic or parafalcine
22
Deborah Doroshow, HMS III
Gillian Lieberman, MD
Radiologic Imaging of SDHs
• Acute SDHs are best evaluated on
noncontrast CT
– Hyper Æ hypoattenuated over weeks
– For acute SDHs in the parafalcine area, coronal
reformation CT images or ultrasound are often
necessary
• MRI is excellent for subacute or
chronic SDHs
– Especially iso- or hypodense lesions
23
Deborah Doroshow, HMS III
Gillian Lieberman, MD
Head CT shows new and
old hemorrhage
Acute focal parenchymal
hemorrhages
Two old, layered
subdural hemorrhages
Images courtesy of Dr. Velez and Dr. Hines-Peralta,
Children’s Hospital Boston
24
Deborah Doroshow, HMS III
Gillian Lieberman, MD
Other Etiologies of Infant SDH
• Severe force from a household fall
• Vacuum assisted delivery
– Symptoms usually apparent within 36
hours of life
25
Deborah Doroshow, HMS III
Gillian Lieberman, MD
What happened next?
• Foster care the next morning
• Grandmother’s care several
months later
• Developing well
• Parents never admitted to
intentionally harming him
26
Deborah Doroshow, HMS III
Gillian Lieberman, MD
References
Child Welfare and Information Gateway. Child Abuse and Neglect Fatalities:
Statistics and Interventions.
http://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/factsheets/fatality.cfm
Duhaime, AC, Christian CW, Rorke LB, and Zimmerman RA. Nonaccidental head
injury in infants – the “shaken-baby syndrome.” New England Journal of
Medicine 1998; 338(25): 1822-9.
Kemp, AM et al. Which radiological investigations should be performed to identify
fractures in suspected child abuse? Clinical Radiology 2006; 61:723-736.
Kleinman, PK (ed). Diagnostic Imaging of Child Abuse, ed 2, Boston, Mosby, 1998.
Lonergan G, Baker A, Morey M, and Boos S. From the Archives of the AFIP: Child
Abuse: Radiologic-Pathologic Correlation. Radiographics 2003; 23: 811-845.
Nimkin, K and Kleinman P. Imaging of Child Abuse. Radiology Clinics of North
America 2001; 39(4): 843-864.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration on Children, Youth
and Families. Child Maltreatment 2004 (Washington, DC: U.S. Government
Printing Office, 2006).
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/pubs/cm04/summary.htm
27
Deborah Doroshow, HMS III
Gillian Lieberman, MD
Acknowledgments
Andrew Hines-Peralta, MD
Jeff Velez, MD
Gillian Lieberman, MD
Pamela Lepkowski
Larry Barbaras, BIDMC webmaster
Trauma X in the Infant
Infant Abuse
An Incidental Finding
Initial Evaluation at CHB
Our pt: Multiple rib fractures on KUB
Our pt: Multiple rib fractures on KUB
Concern for Child Abuse
Injuries Characteristic of Infant Abuse
Full Trauma X Workup Begun
What tests to order?
Our pt: Formal Skeletal Survey
Rib fractures in infant abuse
Rib fractures in infant abuse
Identifying rib fractures
Rib fractures and CPR
The Classic Metaphyseal Lesion
Corner or Bucket Handle Fracture?
How to spot a healing CML: Companion patient #1
The Great Imitators
The Great Imitators
Intracranial injury
Radiologic Imaging of SDHs
Head CT shows new and old hemorrhage
Other Etiologies of Infant SDH
What happened next?
References
Acknowledgments