THE INTRAOCULAR CHANGES IN FATALLY ABUSED CHILDREN / 中国法医学杂志

ABSTRACT

39 cases of fatally abused children were collected during April,1984 to febraury,1987 in Los Angeless,U.S.A.73 cases of non-abused children were obtained as control.Both eyes of each case were taken and examined histo- pathologically.The intraocular changes occured in 64% of the fatally abused children.They wereRetinal hemorrhage,vitrous hemorrhage,retinal de- tachmedt,papilledema,subdural hemorrhage of the optic nerve and traum- atic cataract.On the other hand,the intraocular changes occured in 28% of control cass,especially in those of traffic and other accidents which usually caused the injuries of head and neck.Considering the intraocular changes and the general injuries together,we suggest that the most important mec- hanism of the intraocular changes be head injuries and whiplash syndrome.