Citation

Ducloyer JB, Jossic F, VAN Goethem V, Lebossé D, Cornee C, Le Meur G, Ducloyer M. Int. J. Legal Med. 2024; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2024, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s00414-024-03220-4

PMID

38652283

Abstract

In living children, the use of a wide field fundus camera such as RetCam is the gold standard practice to document retinal haemorrhages in suspected cases of abusive head trauma (AHT). In case of sudden unexpected death in infancy (SUDI), child abuse must be considered as a possible cause of death and an eye examination is required. However, no example of post-mortem fundus photograph (PMFP) of retinal haemorrhages related to AHT is yet available for clinicians.We report a SUDI case, with no external traumatic lesions or limb fractures, for which prompt PMFP showed retinal haemorrhages typical of AHT: child abuse was subsequently confirmed by the forensic investigation. We discuss why PMFP is a relevant screening test to detect retinal haemorrhages in the case of SUDI and why the use of the RetCam should be further investigated.

Language: en

Keywords

Abusive head trauma; Post-mortem; RetCam; Retinal haemorrhages; Sudden unexpected death in infancy; SUDI