Predicting Abusive Head Trauma

Abusive head trauma (previously termed “shaken baby syndrome”) is a tragic source of traumatic brain injury in young children, especially in those <2 years old. In a prior analysis (Pediatrics 2011; 128:e550), investigators developed a statistical model to estimate the probability of abusive head trauma in young children based on six clinical features: head and neck bruising, long bone fractures, rib fractures, apnea, seizures, and retinal hemorrhages.

Now, the authors have conducted a retrospective study to validate the model using two additional data sets of 198 patients (97% were <2 years old) presenting with intracranial injury. Of these patients, 65 had abusive head trauma and 133 had nonabusive head injury, as defined by multidisciplin…