Shaken baby syndrome

Abstract

Child abuse and neglect syndrome is a serious social problem which greatly affects health and long-term development of an individual. The physical form of child abuse and neglect syndrome with the highest mortality is the so-called shaken baby syndrome (SBS). It is a form of inflicted head trauma in small children caused by violent shaking, blunt impact or by combination of both of these mechanisms. Nonspecific symptoms often in combination with incomplete or vague history and social controversy are causes of insufficient evidence of the cases. Reported incidence is very likely underestimated and we can speak of the tip of the iceberg of all the cases of shaken baby syndrome. In this publication we present a case of a 4-month-old infant, in which we were able to detect series of injuries typical for SBS using the combination of various diagnostic methods. In the discussion the authors analyse differential diagnosis and diagnostic process in detail in suspicion of SBS.