Subdural hematomas in abused children: report of six cases from Japan

In abused children, subdural hematoma is one of the most common causes of damage to the central nervous system. We report six Japanese cases of child abuse with subdural hematoma and discuss differences from those in the United States. The majority of abused children with subdural hematomas in Japan have suffered direct violence to the face and head, resulting in external signs of trauma. Failure to detect these external traces of trauma, however, might result in an incorrect diagnosis of infantile acute subdural hematoma attributed to accidental trivial head injury. Child abuse with subdural hematoma in the United States is frequently caused by whiplash shaking injury in which external signs of trauma may not be evident. In the United States, retinal hemorrhage and subdural hematoma together suggest child abuse; some cases of infantile acute subdural hematoma might be mistakenly diagnosed as child abuse. Thus, the constellation of retinal bleeding and subdural hematoma combined with the absence of visible signs of trauma is differently interpreted in the United States and Japan.