Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33710381›Full record

ArticleActa neurochirurgica2022

Is external hydrocephalus a possible differential diagnosis when child abuse is suspected?

Joseph Scheller, Knut Wester

Open access · hybridAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Acta neurochirurgica, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
7citing papers in PubMed
4.0field-weighted citation impact, top 7% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

7 citing papers in PubMed, 15 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Review
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Confessed versus denied inflicted head injuries in infants: similarities and differences.Child's nervous system : ChNS : official journal of the International Society for Pediatric Neurosurgery · 2022
    Article
  7. Observational
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Joseph SchellerNeurologist in Private Practice, 600 Reisterstown Rd #301, Baltimore, MD, 21208, USA.
Knut WesterDepartment of Clinical Medicine K1, University of Bergen, N 5021, Bergen, Norway. knut.wester@gmail.com.ORCID 0000-0001-8489-3931
University of Bergen · NO

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundCriteria for diagnosing abusive head trauma (AHT) or "shaken baby syndrome" are not well defined; consequently, these conditions might be diagnosed on failing premises.

methodsThe authors have collected a total of 28 infants, from the US (20) and Norway (8), suspected of having been violently shaken, and their caregivers had been suspected, investigated, prosecuted or convicted of having performed this action. Among 26 symptomatic infants, there were 18 boys (69%) and 8 girls (31%)-mean age 5.1 month, without age difference between genders.

resultsTwenty-one of 26 symptomatic children (81%) had a head circumference at or above the 90 percentile, and 18 had a head circumference at or above the 97 percentile. After macrocephaly, seizure was the most frequent initial symptom in 13 (50%) of the symptomatic infants. Seventeen (65%) of the symptomatic infants had bilateral retinal haemorrhages, and two had unilateral retinal haemorrhages. All infants had neuroimaging compatible with chronic subdural haematomas/hygromas as well as radiological characteristics compatible with benign external hydrocephalus (BEH).

conclusionsBEH with subdural haematomas/hygromas in infants may sometimes be misdiagnosed as abusive head trauma. Based on the authors' experience and findings of the study, the following measures are suggested to avoid this diagnostic pitfall: medical experts in infant abuse cases should be trained in recognising clinical and radiological BEH features, clinicians with neuro-paediatric experience should always be included in the expert teams and reliable information about the head circumference development from birth should always be available.

Indexed as

Child AbuseCraniocerebral TraumaHematoma, Subdural, ChronicHydrocephalusShaken Baby SyndromeChildChild, PreschoolDiagnosis, DifferentialFemaleHumansInfantMaleAbusive head injuryAHTBenign external hydrocephalusChild abuseSBSShaken baby syndromeSubdural haematomasubdural hygroma

Identifiers

PMID33710381
PMCPMC8967805
OpenAlexW3133905295

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.