NCJ Number
130206
Journal
Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume: 36 Issue: 3 Dated: (May 1991) Pages: 741-747
Date Published
1991
Length
7 pages
Annotation
Seventy seven pairs of eyes removed from infants and small children at autopsy were studied at the Doheny Eye Institute in Los Angeles for evidence of suspected child abuse.
Abstract
Forty seven of the cases had retinal hemorrhages, ranging from massive bleeding of all layers of the entire retina to a few blood cells in 1 or 2 areas of the retina in one layer. Four of the cases with retinal hemorrhages did not have an optic nerve section, but 39 of the other 43 showed subdural hemorrhages in the optic nerve. Analyses for sexual distribution revealed slightly more males than females. The racial distribution showed the largest number to be Caucasian, followed by blacks, Hispanics, and Orientals in order of decreasing frequency. In addition, children less than one year old had a much higher incidence of hemorrhage than older children. Of the cases with retinal hemorrhage, 11 had a history of being shaken and 10 had histories consistent with head trauma such as falling off a bed. Of the 47 cases with hemorrhage, only 23 (47 percent) showed external physical findings; and of the 30 nonhemorrhagic cases, 25 (83 percent) showed evidence of such trauma. This difference indicates that the shaken child is less likely to show obvious evidence of abuse when seen by health workers. For this reason, the examination of eyes in all small children who died without an obvious cause of death is recommended as an important component of the autopsy examination. 4 figures, 3 tables, and 15 references (Author abstract modified)