The findings, presented at the recent Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in Los Angeles, also show that victims of Shaken Baby Syndrome have extremely high levels of glutamate. Glutamate is both an essential part of normal brain chemistry and, in high levels, an important part of the chemical cascade by which brain cells die. Our findings suggest directions for future research, including learning about the effects of glutamate on the developing brain in children and finding ways to block the injurious effect of toxic levels of glutamate and other neurochemicals and thus limit damage from traumatic brain injury, particularly among child abuse victims. In addition, this research suggests the possibility that specific biochemical markers in brain fluid may aid in the diagnosis of child abuse or shaken baby syndrome. Head injury is the most common cause of childhood death and disability in the United States.
Brain injury occurs in two stages.
Initial or primary damage results from the direct impact of the trauma itself. Child abuse is an important public health problem in the United States, with more than three million cases of child abuse or neglect reported in 1997. More than one million of these cases, or 15 out of every 1,000 children, was confirmed. The study examined 37 patients treated at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh. The study group consisted of 18 children who had sustained severe traumatic brain injury.