TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2023//
TI  - Accidental injury or "shaken elderly syndrome"? Insights from a case report
JO  - Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland)
A1  - Bugelli, Valentina
A1  - Campobasso, Carlo Pietro
A1  - Feola, Alessandro
A1  - Tarozzi, Ilaria
A1  - Abbruzzese, Arturo
A1  - Di Paolo, Marco
SP  - e228
EP  - e228
VL  - 11
IS  - 2
N2  - Subdural haemorrhage (SDH) as result of a traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a common cause of death in cases of fatal physical abuse. Since intracranial bleeding is a common finding in elderly due to age-related intracranial changes or increasing prevalence of anticoagulant medication, differential diagnosis between inflicted and non-inflicted head injury is challenging. A case of an elderly woman's death caused by TBI is reported. Autopsy showed multiple polychromatic bruises and a frontoparietal hematoma with bilateral subacute SDH. History excluded paraphysiological or pathological non-traumatic conditions that could justify SDH, while iatrogenic factors only played a contributory role. Since polychromatic bruises distributed on the face, the upper extremities and the chest were consistent with forceful grasping/gripping or repeated blows and SDH can form in absence of impact or by mild/minor blows, SDH was considered the result of repeated physical abuses. Differential diagnosis between traumatic and non-traumatic SDH is still challenging for forensic pathologists. As largely accepted in the pediatric population and occasionally described also in adults, however, violent shaking should be also considered as a possible mechanism of SDH-especially in elderly who do not have any sign of impact to the head.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 2227-9032
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/healthcare11020228
ID  - ref1
ER  -