Ophthalmic imaging in abusive head trauma

Ophthalmic imaging plays an increasingly important role the evaluation of abusive head trauma, however these imaging modalities may be unfamiliar to non-ophthalmologists.

To provide pediatricians and child abuse pediatric professionals with background on ophthalmic imaging techniques in the context of suspected abuse, as well as information on commercial options and costs for those interested in augmenting their ophthalmic imaging capabilities.

We performed a review of the ophthalmic imaging literature for fundus photography, ocular coherence tomography, fluorescein angiography, ocular ultrasound, computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging and postmortem imaging. We also contacted individual vendors for equipment pricing information.

For each ophthalmic imaging modality, we demonstrate its role in the evaluation of abusive head trauma including indications, potential findings, sensitivity and specificity of findings for abuse, and commercial options.

Ophthalmic imaging is an important supportive component of the evaluation for abusive head trauma. When used in conjunction with clinical examination, ophthalmic imaging can improve diagnostic accuracy, support documentation, and possibly improve communication in medicolegal contexts.