Inflicted childhood neurotrauma (ICN) - traumatic brain injury due to child abuse - is the leading cause of death from traumatic brain injury (TBI) in children less than 2 yrs of age. Recognition of ICN can be difficult and misdiagnosis is common. Accurate and timely diagnosis of ICN is of critical importance;infants with ICN who are misdiagnosed are likely to return to a violent environment and be re-injured or killed. There are currently no evidence- based strategies or tools to screen for ICN. The long-term objective of this research is to create an evidence-based approach to evaluating infants at high-risk of ICN. Over the past four years, we have demonstrated that increases in the serum concentrations of two brain- specific biomarkers - neuron specific enolase and myelin basic protein - are sensitive and specific for brain injury and may be able to be used as a screening tool for ICN. We have also derived a sensitive and specific clinical decision rule (CDR) for predicting ICN using easily measured clinical and laboratory variables.
The specific aims of the current proposal are (1) to perform a two-site, prospective definitive study to evaluate the use of serum biomarkers to screen for ICN in high-risk infants (2) to improve the sensitivity and specificity of biomarkers for detection of ICN by creating biomarker profiles using a combination of multiplex bead technology and conventional two-dimensional difference in gel electrophoresis/mass spectroscopy (3) to validate prospectively the previously derived CDR and to compare the accuracy of the CDR alone to the CDR in combination with biomarkers. If these tools are effective for screening for ICN, they would be instrumental in decreasing morbidity and mortality from the leading cause of death from child abuse. Relevance to public health: Inflicted childhood neurotrauma (ICN) - often referred to as shaken baby syndrome - is the leading cause of death from child abuse. Proper diagnosis is essential in order to avoid returning an injured child to a violent environment where he or she may be re-injured or killed. This study evaluates two ways to screen for ICN: by measuring the levels of certain chemicals in the blood and by combining certain laboratory and clinical information into a clinical decision rule. By improving evaluation and diagnosis of ICN, we will be able to decrease morbidity and mortality from this devastating type of child abuse.

Public Health Relevance

Shaken baby syndrome is the leading cause of death from child abuse. Many children who die of shaken baby syndrome have been shaken previously by a caretaker but their symptoms (e.g. vomiting or irritability) are misdiagnosed by a medical professional. The misdiagnosis allows them to return to a violent home where they are re-injured. The goal of our study is to find ways to help doctors identify shaken baby syndrome when it initially presents before children are re-injured and/or killed.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (NICHD)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01HD055986-04
Application #
8411976
Study Section
Developmental Brain Disorders Study Section (DBD)
Program Officer
Maholmes, Valerie
Project Start
2009-09-30
Project End
2014-12-31
Budget Start
2013-01-01
Budget End
2013-12-31
Support Year
4
Fiscal Year
2013
Total Cost
$548,948
Indirect Cost
$106,540
Name
University of Pittsburgh
Department
Pediatrics
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
004514360
City
Pittsburgh
State
PA
Country
United States
Zip Code
15213
Berger, Rachel Pardes; Pak, Brian J; Kolesnikova, Mariya D et al. (2017) Derivation and Validation of a Serum Biomarker Panel to Identify Infants With Acute Intracranial Hemorrhage. JAMA Pediatr 171:e170429
Berger, Rachel Pardes; Fromkin, Janet; Herman, Bruce et al. (2016) Validation of the Pittsburgh Infant Brain Injury Score for Abusive Head Trauma. Pediatrics 138:
Flom, Lynda; Fromkin, Janet; Panigrahy, Ashok et al. (2016) Development of a screening MRI for infants at risk for abusive head trauma. Pediatr Radiol 46:519-26
Berger, Rachel P; Fromkin, Janet; Rubin, Pam et al. (2015) Serum D-dimer concentrations are increased after pediatric traumatic brain injury. J Pediatr 166:383-8
Berger, Rachel P; Parks, Sharyn; Fromkin, Janet et al. (2015) Assessing the accuracy of the International Classification of Diseases codes to identify abusive head trauma: a feasibility study. Inj Prev 21:e133-7
Gao, Weimin; Lu, Chuanwen; Kochanek, Patrick M et al. (2014) Serum amyloid A is increased in children with abusive head trauma: a gel-based proteomic analysis. Pediatr Res 76:280-6
Berger, Rachel; McGinn, Thomas (2013) Deciding whether to screen for abusive head trauma: do we need a clinical decision rule? Pediatr Crit Care Med 14:230-1
Berger, Rachel P; Houle, Jean-Francois; Hayes, Ronald L et al. (2011) Translating biomarkers research to clinical care: applications and issues for rehabilomics. PM R 3:S31-8
Berger, Rachel Pardes; Bazaco, Michael C; Wagner, Amy K et al. (2010) Trajectory analysis of serum biomarker concentrations facilitates outcome prediction after pediatric traumatic and hypoxemic brain injury. Dev Neurosci 32:396-405