Cohle

Letter to the Editor: Shaken Baby Syndrome

Citation:

Cohle SD, Foster A, Cottingham SL: Letter to the editor: shaken baby syndrome, Am J Forensic Med Pathol 21(2):198-200, June 2000.

Notes:

This letter is in response to the article by John Plunket entitled "Shaken Baby Syndrome and the Death of Matthew Eappen" and discounts the conclusions in that article.
Several studies concerning injuries from short falls are quoted, including one by Hall which resported a series of severe and fatal injuries from short falls. Only two of the falls were witnessed by someone besides the caretaker, however, medical personnel in both cases. The authors believe that in those two situations, someone may have assaulted the children after the fall.
The authors comment on the 4-day lucid interval reported in one of the cases Nashelsky found, stating that there was no reason to believe that the babysitter or someone else could not have assaulted the child subsequent to the confessed shaking.
The pattern of injuries seen in children fatally injured in motor vehicle accidents is often quite similar to that seen in abusive injuries.
A demonstration of diffuse axonal injuries is evidence for immediate loss of consciousness in shaken babies.