Main description:

Child abuse and suspicious child deaths are very complicated matters for clinicians, pathologists, law enforcement officials and legal professionals to investigate. Meanwhile, the evidence base for forensic pathology, especially in paediatrics, is steadily growing. In Paediatric Forensic Medicine and Pathology, two internationally acclaimed editors have brought together a first class author team who provide an up-to-date, comprehensive, and thorough review of the contemporary problems encountered in practice today.

Individual chapters explore the emerging role of imaging in the diagnosis of non-accidental injury and compare recent evidence contrasting sudden infant death and SIDS; the head and neck injury chapter carefully explores the 'shaken baby syndrome' and similar patterns of injury that have recently gained widespread media attention. Special emphasis is given to interview and assessment procedures, and useful clinical forms are included throughout the book. Whether in a clinical, laboratory, or legal setting, readers dealing with forensic inquiries or who are in preparation for court will find the comprehensive background and evidence base necessary to support their investigations.

Paediatric Forensic Medicine and Pathology is an invaluable resource for forensic pathologists, paediatric pathologists, and paediatricians, as well as all practitioners in the judicial and legal, criminal investigation and social services systems that have to deal with such cases.

Contents:

1 Clinical assessment in suspected child abuse
2 Investigation of suspected sexual abuse
3 Radiology of child abuse
4 Haematological abnormalities that can simulate abuse
5 Biochemical investigations on post-mortem specimens
6 Ocular involvement in non-accidental injury
7 The death scene following the sudden death of a child
8 Post-mortem examination in babies and children
9 The pathology of neuropathological abnormality in early life
10 Fetal and perinatal death
11 Sudden unexpected death in infancy. SIDS or something else?
12 Sudden natural death in infants and children
13 Recent advances in paediatric toxicology
14 Head and neck injuries
15 Heat-induced injury or death
16 Asphyxial deaths in children
17 Accidental injuries in children
18 Drowning and near drowning
19 Sudden death of children in hospital
20 Road traffic accidents in children
21 Forensic DNA profiling in cases involving children
22 The dentist's role in child abuse and neglect
23 Paediatric dental identification
24 The expert witness and expert testimony