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Malnutrition, a Rare Form of Child Abuse: Diagnostic Criteria

NCJ Number
214508
Journal
Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume: 51 Issue: 3 Dated: May 2006 Pages: 670-673
Author(s)
Maries-Dominique Piercecchi-Marti Ph.D.; Claude Louis-Borrione M.D.; Christophe Bartoli M.D.; Alain Sanvoisin M.D.; Michel Panuel Ph.D.; Anne-Laure Pelissier-Alicot Ph.D.; Georges Leonetti Ph.D.
Date Published
May 2006
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This article reports on a case study of the death of a 6.5-month-old female infant in France, with attention to diagnostic criteria that established the diagnosis of abuse as the manner of death.
Abstract
The duration of food deprivation for the child could not be estimated by the use of equations or curves, since the length of time that the child survived after birth indicated that she was given food, even if in inadequate amounts and irregularly. The liver lesions observed indicated prolonged inadequacy of nutritional intake, and autopsy observations discounted the mother's statement about the quality and quantity of food she claimed to have given the child before putting her to bed the night before her death. Estimation of the time of death to be in the early afternoon and the observation that all the digestive lumens were empty disproved the mother's statement. In addition, the blood acetone level, which was measured after death, suggested prolonged fasting. The mother and father were found guilty of deprivation of care and food leading to the death of a minor, caused by a parent. The diagnosis of abuse through malnutrition was determined based on clinical, anthropometric, radiological, anatomopathological, and biological analyses. 3 figures and 17 references