• Chelsey Yurkovich, Dena Nazer, Ahmad Farooqi, and Nirupama Kannikeswaran.
• From the Sparrow Hospital Emergency Medicine, Lansing.
• Pediatr Emerg Care. 2022 Mar 1; 38 (3): e1118e1122e1118-e1122.

MethodsWe performed a retrospective study of unexpected deaths in children 2 years or younger between 2008 and 2018. Children with known traumatic deaths and those transferred after a cardiopulmonary arrest at an outside institution were excluded. We collected patient demographics, physical examination findings, and type of PMI performed along with their results.ResultsWe analyzed 150 deaths with majority (128; 85.3%) being infants. No PMI was performed in 20 children (13.3%). An autopsy was not performed in 22 children (14.6%). A skeletal survey and an autopsy were performed only in 72.6% (93/128) infants. PMI provided additional findings in 51 infants (34%) and 13 children (59.1%) aged 13 to 24 months. PMI identified abuse in 11 children with a negative physical examination result, 3 of whom had a negative autopsy.ConclusionsThe American Academy of Pediatrics recommendations of performance of a skeletal survey and an autopsy were not adhered to after all infant deaths. PMI is useful in identification of additional findings in children 2 years or younger, especially those concerning for physical abuse in infants with a negative physical examination.Copyright © 2020 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.

11 keywords...

hide…