ABSTRACT

The possibility of manifest traumatic changes is ra re for physical abuse during ınfancy. Cases a re brouglıt to eııter-geney-intensive care units because of clinical findings observed in varioııs diseases. which a re unique to this age and which a re ıııostly reported to cotııe out immediately. In this study. a ııtale and two female infants who vvere takcıı to the child emergeney-intensive care unit of İstanbul Med-ical Faculty of University of İstanbul with a clinical finding sııch as convulsion a re presentecl in orcler to document the way tlıey vvere referred to the depaıtment, and to stress the imporlance of the stand point of forensic medicine in the process of oıienting tovvards ılıe proper diagnosis. İn ali of the three cases. a recenl fail lıistory. subdural hematoma idcnıified in brain tonıograplıy, massive retinal hemorrhage identified as a re.suİt of the examination of the icar part of the eye vvere preseni. A diagnostic of child abuse w as cleter-mined according to the medical lıistory. In conclusion. for a proper diagnosis of physical abuse vvithout delay. consitl-eıing thern as forensic cases, and documenting identified traumatic changes as forensic reports and ıeporting tlıeııı to jııdicial offices, thus the vvoık in coordination vvith Forensic Medicine Depaıtments is extremely impoıtant.

Keywords: Child abııse. sııbdııral hematoma. shaken baby syndrome.