Pancreatitis and the battered child syndrome. Report of 2 cases with skeletal involvement

Acute Pancreatitis in Pediatric Patients: Demographics, Etiology, and Diagnostic Imaging

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this article is to provide updates on acute pancreatitis in children regarding the imaging findings, causes, and complications based on a review of the current studies in the pediatrics literature. We discuss the epidemiology of acute pancreatitis, the role of imaging and imaging findings in the diagnosis of acute pancreatitis, and the causes and complications of acute pancreatitis.

CONCLUSION

The incidence of acute pancreatitis is increasing in children. Imaging plays an important role in the diagnosis of acute pancreatitis because imaging findings can be used to establish the cause of acute pancreatitis, evaluate for complications of acute pancreatitis, and possibly predict the course of the disease.

A systematic review of abusive visceral injuries in childhood--their range and recognition

OBJECTIVES

To define what abusive visceral injuries occur, including their clinical features and the value of screening tests for abdominal injury among abused children.

METHODS

We searched 12 databases, with snowballing techniques, for the period 1950-2011, with all identified studies undergoing two independent reviews by trained reviewers, drawn from pediatrics, radiology, pediatric surgery and pathology. Of 5802 studies identified, 188 were reviewed. We included studies of children aged 0-18, with confirmed abusive etiology, whose injury was defined by computed tomography, contrast studies or at surgery/post mortem. We excluded injuries due to sexual abuse, or those exclusively addressing management or outcome.

RESULTS

Of 88 included studies (64 addressing abdominal injuries), only five were comparative. Every organ in the body has been injured, intra-thoracic injuries were commoner in those aged less than five years. Children with abusive abdominal injuries were younger (2.5-3.7 years vs. 7.6-10.3 years) than accidentally injured children. Duodenal injuries were commonly recorded in abused children, particularly involving the third or fourth part, and were not reported in accidentally injured children less than four years old. Liver and pancreatic injuries were frequently recorded, with potential pancreatic pseudocyst formation. Abdominal bruising was absent in up to 80% of those with abdominal injuries, and co-existent injuries included fractures, burns and head injury. Post mortem studies revealed that a number of the children had sustained previous, unrecognized, abdominal injuries. The mortality from abusive abdominal injuries was significantly higher than accidental injuries (53% vs. 21%). Only three studies addressed screening for abdominal injury among abused children, and were unsuitable for meta-analysis due to lack of standardized investigations, in particular those with 'negative' screening tests were not consistently investigated.

CONCLUSIONS

Visceral injuries may affect any organ of the body, predominantly abdominal viscera. A non-motor vehicle related duodenal trauma in a child aged<five years warrants consideration of abuse as an etiology. In the absence of clear evidence for a screening strategy, clinical vigilance is warranted in any young child with suspected abuse for the presence of abdominal injury, where the absence of abdominal bruising or specific symptoms does not preclude significant injury.

Arthralgia and osteolytic lesions associated with traumatic pancreatitis in a 10-year-old girl

A case of traumatic pancreatitis with subsequent joint pain and osteolytic lesions is presented. A 10-year-old girl was admitted to our hospital with abdominal pain caused by blunt epigastric injury. She was diagnosed with traumatic pancreatitis, and multiple pancreatic pseudocysts subsequently developed. Two weeks after admission, she complained of joint pain, and MR revealed osteolytic lesions of both knee joints. On the 58th day, endoscopic transgastric pseudocyst drainage was performed. Joint pain and osteolytic lesions resolved rapidly, in parallel with the decrease in serum amylase level and pseudocyst size.

From the archives of the AFIP. Child abuse: radiologic-pathologic correlation

In the United States, roughly one of every 100 children is subjected to some form of neglect or abuse; inflicted injury is responsible for approximately 1,200 deaths per year. Child physical abuse may manifest as virtually any injury pattern known to medicine. Some of the injuries observed in battered children are relatively unique to this population (especially when observed in infants) and therefore are highly suggestive of nonaccidental, or inflicted, injury. Worrisome injuries include rib fracture, metaphyseal fracture, interhemispheric extraaxial hemorrhage, shear-type brain injury, vertebral compression fracture, and small bowel hematoma and laceration. As noted, however, virtually any injury may be inflicted; therefore, careful consideration of the nature of the injury, the developmental capabilities of the child, and the given history are crucial to determine the likelihood that an injury was inflicted. The majority of these injuries are readily detectable at imaging, and radiologic examination forms the mainstay of evaluation of child physical abuse. Detection of metaphyseal fracture (regarded as the most specific radiographically detectable injury in abuse) depends on high-quality, small field-of-view radiographs. The injury manifests radiographically as a lucent area within the subphyseal metaphysis, extending completely or partially across the metaphysis, roughly perpendicular to the long axis of the bone. Acute rib fractures (which in infants are strongly correlated with abuse) appear as linear lucent areas. They may be difficult to discern when acute; thus, follow-up radiography increases detection of these fractures. For skull injuries, radiography is best for detecting fractures, but computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging best depict intracranial injury.

Imaging of child abuse

Diagnostic imaging plays a fundamental role in the evaluation of suspected physical abuse. Judicious application of modern imaging techniques to cases of suspected abuse aids in early and accurate diagnosis, leading to appropriate measures to protect all family members at risk of serious injury.

Radiologic imaging of inflicted injury in the child abuse syndrome

Injuries associated with child abuse may involve any anatomic focus and organ system. Although many if not most of the injuries associated with physical abuse cannot serve as definitive evidence of maltreatment, awareness of patterns of injuries in abused infants and children initially may serve to identify potential victims of abuse and stimulate more thorough clinical and radiologic investigation. It is essential that less familiar intracranial and abdominal injuries be thoroughly evaluated for possible abuse when circumstances suggest maltreatment, or no plausible explanation is given for radiologic findings.

Pancreatitis in childhood. Experience with 49 patients

Pancreatitis in children is not common but can be associated with severe morbidity rates. We have treated 49 children with pancreatitis over the past 12 years ranging in age from 1 month to 18 years. One third of the patients had biliary tract disease as an etiology, with nearly half of these being related to underlying hematologic disease, usually sickle cell anemia. Another third of the pancreatitis was due to trauma, and one third of these were related to child abuse. Other etiologies were systemic disease (6 patients), congenital anomalies (8 patients), and idiopathic (3 cases). Eighty-two per cent of the patients presented with abdominal pain, but four children, all less than 4 years old, presented with an abdominal mass. Twenty-nine patients required 33 operations for pancreatitis. Fifteen of the 16 patients with biliary tract disease and all patients with congenital anomalies required operation. Six of the 16 patients with trauma required operation and none of those with systemic disease. As in adults ultrasonographic examination and CT scan are most important in the diagnosis; medical treatment consists of intravenous (I.V.) fluids, nasogastric suction, and total parenteral nutrition (TPN), and risk factors can help predict the severity of the disease while amylase alone is not related to severity. Different from adults, in children an etiology can usually be determined. The common etiologies, biliary tract disease, trauma, and congenital anomalies frequently require operation.

Idiopathic periosteal hyperostosis with dysproteinemia (Goldbloom's syndrome): case report and review of the literature

Idiopathic subperiosteal new bone formation is uncommon in childhood. We report a case of diffuse periostitis in association with hypergammaglobulinemia and hypoalbuminemia in a 12-year-old boy. In 1966, 2 cases of idiopathic periosteal hyperostosis with accompanying dysproteinemia were documented. This report serves as a review of this unique and perplexing problem in clinical diagnosis.

Radiological evaluation of visceral injuries in the battered child syndrome

Diagnostic imaging plays an important role in the recognition, evaluation, and follow-up of visceral injuries in the battered child syndrome. Conventional radiography is important for the diagnosis of associated skeletal fractures, pulmonary parenchymal injury, gastric dilatation, and pneumoperitoneum. An upper gastrointestinal series is the examination of choice in suspected intramural duodenal hematoma. Ultrasonography is helpful in the diagnosis of retroperitoneal hematoma, acute traumatic pancreatitis, and pancreatic pseudocyst. Nuclear scintigraphy is valuable if injury is limited to the liver or spleen. CT is the imaging modality of choice for assessing generalized blunt abdominal trauma as well as evaluating the extent of injuries to the liver, spleen, pancreas, kidneys, and mesentery.

Pancreatitis, child abuse, and skeletal lesions

A case of pancreatitis associated with trauma of child abuse is reported. Skeletal changes secondary to pancreatitis developed and the distribution of the bony lesions included both metaphyseal and epiphyseal growth centers. The coexistence of pancreatitis, child abuse, and subsequent skeletal lesions is again emphasized, as well as the unique occurrence of lesions in the epiphyseal centers.