Citation

Feldman KW, Wright JN, Menashe SJ, Otjen JP, Pidaparti V. Pediatr. Emerg. Care 2022; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, Lippincott Williams and Wilkins)

DOI

10.1097/PEC.0000000000002696

PMID

35413043

Abstract

Although spinal ligamentous injuries and extra-axial hemorrhages are known to commonly accompany abusive head trauma (AHT), symptomatic and radiological apparent cervical spinal cord injuries are rare. Of the 16 previously reported cases, 3 such cord injuries lacked the accompanying intracranial injuries of AHT. We report an additional child who developed symptomatic central cervical cord syndrome, with accompanying cervical imaging findings, but no intracranial AHT injuries. The mechanism of trauma for this child and the other children without intracranial injury remains unclear. However, 1 additional reported child sustained similar injuries when she was held by her head and shaken. It is likely that as cervical magnetic resonance imaging becomes more common in AHT, more cases will be recognized.

Language: en