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.

Intracranial sewing needle in a man with seizure: a case of child abuse?

Tuncer N, Yayci N, Ekinci G, Inanici MA, Elmaci I

Marmara University, School of Medicine, Department of Neurology, 36. Ada Ata 2-5 Daire:110 Ataşehir, Istanbul, Turkey. nesetuncer@yahoo.com

Physical abuse in infancy can cause persistent neurological deficits. Although intracranial foreign bodies are generally secondary to penetrating trauma or surgical procedures, rarely they also occur as a result of child abuse. A 32-year-old man presented with the complaint of generalized tonic clonic seizures to the Neurology Department of Marmara, University Hospital. Computerized tomography (CT) scan revealed a sewing needle located within the temporal lobe. The location and the position of the needle suggested that it must have been introduced in infancy through the lamdoid suture before the closure of it, as an unsuccessful deliberate homicide attempt or accidental injury.

Published 30 April 2007 in Forensic Sci Int, 168(2): 212-4.
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