Etiological differential diagnosis of the acute subdural hematoma in pediatric age

Abstract

This article is focused on the differential diagnosis of infantile acute subdural haematoma (SDH). The objective is focus on bringing more diagnostic tools when it comes to differentiate an spontaneous SDH from the traumatic SDH, being this accidental or intentional in the context of a child abuse. A complete state of the art is made from the review of the most recent available literature, collecting in the same paper the most relevant clinical features, radiologic findings and anatomopatological criteria for the diagnosis of infantile SDH. With the aim to simplify and clarify the handling of the patients with SDH, a multidisciplinary diagnostic algorithm has been developed in this article, combining the provided information from several authors and raising for the first time, the possibility of 3 final diagnostic options in the cases of infantile SDH: accidental traumatic SDH, intentional traumatic SDH, and spontaneous SDH.