Child Abuse Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Child Abuse, including details on family violence, examinations, long-term effects, psychiatrics disorders.

Guidelines for postmortem protocol for ocular investigation of sudden unexplained infant death and suspected physical child abuse.

Gilliland MG, Levin AV, Enzenauer RW, Smith C, Parsons MA, Rorke-Adams LB, Lauridson JR, La Roche GR, Christmann LM, Mian M, Jentzen J, Simons KB, Morad Y, Alexander R, Jenny C, Wygnanski-Jaffe T, The Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University

Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, The Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA.

Postmortem examination is a cornerstone in identifying the cause of unexplained sudden death in children. Even in cases of suspected or known abuse, an autopsy may help characterize the nature of the abuse, which is particularly important in the forensic autopsy of children in the first 3 to 4 years of life when inflicted neurotrauma is most common. Forensic examinations are vital in cases that might otherwise be diagnosed as sudden infant death syndrome. The ocular autopsy in particular may demonstrate findings that were not appreciated on antemortem clinical examination. This protocol for postmortem examination of the eyes and orbits was developed to promote more consistent documentation of findings, improved clinical and forensic decision making, and more replicable and coherent research outcomes.

Published 28 November 2007 in Am J Forensic Med Pathol, 28(4): 323-9.
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