Interval Duration Between Injury and Severe Symptoms in Nonaccidental Head Trauma in Infants and Young Children

Citation:

Gilliland MGF: Interval duration between injury and severe symptoms in nonaccidental head trauma in infants and young children. Journal of Forensic Sciences 43(3):723-725, 1998.

Abstract

Notes:

• Severe symptoms include unresponsiveness, difficulty breathing, cardiorespiratory collapse.
• The interval was less than 24 hours in 80% of shaking alone cases and more than 72 hours in four children with blunt trauma as part of the mechanism.
• "Although brain swelling and edema can develop very rapidly, in less than 24 hours, delayed onset of symptoms is not uncommon." (p. 724)
• In all cases where the children were seen by an independent observer after injury, they were described as lethargic or otherwise not normal.