Introduction
SBS or Shaken Baby Syndrome is a major brain injury that results from forceful shaking of a toddler or infant. Shaken Baby Syndrome is a result of direct blow/s to a child’s head due to throwing or dropping, or sometimes shaking a child. Since, infants’ anatomy puts them at risk for injury from such actions; several victims of SBS are under 1 year old.
The autopsy reveals several details such as the presence of white matter contusion tears, diffuse axonal injury, subdural hematoma, and galeal skull fracture, contusion on the front skull and a linear skull fracture. But, the autopsy revealed the lack of retinal haemorrhages, subarachnoid haemorrhages, neck injuries, or other injuries. One interesting fact that was revealed was the presence of meningitis, which is often confused for Shaken Baby Syndrome.
Rationale
The autopsy reveals that there are some Shaken Baby Syndrome traits that are common in the case. These traits are white matter contusion tears, diffuse axonal injury, subdural hematoma, and galeal skull fracture, contusion on the front skull and a linear skull fracture are common in case of shaken baby syndrome. The presence of these traits in the autopsy points to the fact that it can be a case of shaken baby syndrome. But, several other important traits that are seen in the case of shaken baby syndrome are missing from the case and it is possible that it might not be shaken baby syndrome. One important detail shared is that the child had meningitis, which is often misunderstood as shaken baby syndrome during initial diagnosis. Most doctors while checking for SBS also check for meningitis through lumbar puncture checks for spinal fluids (Government of Alberta, 2016).
Meningitis leads to inflammation of the brain’s outer layers and the spinal cord membranes. Several experts have claimed that due to the similarity in characteristics, meningitis is often mistaken for SBS. In this case too, despite the presence of some traits of SBS, it is clear that the death has been caused by the presence of meningitis. Due to the child dropping on the surface, spinal fluids might have released in the outer layers and it can easily be traced and it can be proven that death was caused by meningitis (Carrega-Woodby, 2015).
References
Carrega-Woodby., C. (2015, 7 June). Dad jailed for infant's death insists meningitis, not shaken baby syndrome, killed daughter. Retrieved 19 May 2016 from, http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/jailed-dad-baby-died-meningitis-not-sbs-article-1.2249274
Government of Alberta. (2016). Shaken Baby Syndrome. Retrieved 19 May 2016 from, https://myhealth.alberta.ca/Health/pages/conditions.aspx?hwId=hw169815
