Day: December 19, 2020

Infant who has been shaken

CT of diffuse cerebral edema in child abuse
Axial CT without contrast of the brain shows normal density in the rounded top of the cerebellum (in the center of the left image) compared to the diffuse low-density throughout the cerebrum. There is obliteration of the basal cisterns and loss of the normal gray matter-white matter differentiation. There is also a small left sided high density extra-axial cresenteric fluid collection that tracks medially along the entire falx.

The diagnosis was diffuse cerebral edema and a left-sided acute subdural hematoma with interhemispheric extension in a child abuse patient.