ABSTRACT
There is now a vast collection of publications on the child abuse syndrome, including international journals devoted to the topic. Most of this interest concerns the clinician, as child abuse is now a major concern in paediatrics. When no intervention is offered, an abused child has up to a 10 per cent risk of having eventually fatal injuries, so unfortunately the forensic pathologist will be involved in this tragic problem from time to time. This chapter will deal solely with the physical manifestations of the child abuse syndrome as seen at autopsy, though naturally these will in large measure coincide with the non-fatal injuries seen by clinicians.
