National Association of Medical Examiners position paper: Recommendations for the investigation and certification of deaths in people with epilepsy.

Sudden unexpected death of an individual with epilepsy can pose a challenge to death investigators, as most deaths are unwitnessed, and the individual is commonly found dead in bed. Anatomic findings (eg, tongue/lip bite) are commonly absent and of varying specificity, thereby limiting the evidence to implicate epilepsy as a cause of or contributor to death. Thus it is likely that death certificates significantly underrepresent the true number of deaths in which epilepsy was a factor. To address this, members of the National Association of Medical Examiners, North American SUDEP Registry, Epilepsy Foundation SUDEP Institute, American Epilepsy Society, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention constituted an expert panel to generate evidence-based recommendations for the practice of death investigation and autopsy, toxicological analysis, interpretation of autopsy and toxicology findings, and death certification to improve the precision of death certificate data available for public health surveillance of epilepsy-related deaths. The recommendations provided in this paper are intended to assist medical examiners, coroners, and death investigators when a sudden unexpected death in a person with epilepsy is encountered.

National Association of Medical Examiners Position Paper: Recommendations for the Investigation and Certification of Deaths in People with Epilepsy.

Sudden unexpected death of an individual with epilepsy (SUDEP) can pose a challenge to death investigators, as most deaths are unwitnessed and the individual is commonly found dead in bed. Anatomic findings (e.g., tongue/lip bite) are commonly absent and of varying specificity, limiting the evidence to implicate epilepsy as a cause of or contributor to death. Thus, it is likely that death certificates significantly underrepresent the true number of deaths in which epilepsy was a factor. To address this, members of the National Association of Medical Examiners, North American SUDEP Registry, Epilepsy Foundation SUDEP Institute, American Epilepsy Society, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention convened an expert panel to generate evidence-based recommendations for the practice of death investigation and autopsy, toxicological analysis, interpretation of autopsy and toxicology findings, and death certification to improve the precision of death certificate data available for public health surveillance of epilepsy-related deaths. The recommendations provided in this paper are intended to assist medical examiners, coroners, and death investigators when a sudden, unexpected death in a person with epilepsy is encountered.

From the archives of the AFIP. Child abuse: radiologic-pathologic correlation.

In the United States, roughly one of every 100 children is subjected to some form of neglect or abuse; inflicted injury is responsible for approximately 1,200 deaths per year. Child physical abuse may manifest as virtually any injury pattern known to medicine. Some of the injuries observed in battered children are relatively unique to this population (especially when observed in infants) and therefore are highly suggestive of nonaccidental, or inflicted, injury. Worrisome injuries include rib fracture, metaphyseal fracture, interhemispheric extraaxial hemorrhage, shear-type brain injury, vertebral compression fracture, and small bowel hematoma and laceration. As noted, however, virtually any injury may be inflicted; therefore, careful consideration of the nature of the injury, the developmental capabilities of the child, and the given history are crucial to determine the likelihood that an injury was inflicted. The majority of these injuries are readily detectable at imaging, and radiologic examination forms the mainstay of evaluation of child physical abuse. Detection of metaphyseal fracture (regarded as the most specific radiographically detectable injury in abuse) depends on high-quality, small field-of-view radiographs. The injury manifests radiographically as a lucent area within the subphyseal metaphysis, extending completely or partially across the metaphysis, roughly perpendicular to the long axis of the bone. Acute rib fractures (which in infants are strongly correlated with abuse) appear as linear lucent areas. They may be difficult to discern when acute; thus, follow-up radiography increases detection of these fractures. For skull injuries, radiography is best for detecting fractures, but computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging best depict intracranial injury.