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Cutaneous mimickers of child abuse: a primer for pediatricians

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Abstract

The annual incidence of child abuse was estimated to be 2.8 million by the national incidence study conducted in the USA in 1993, which is a two-fold increase compared to 1986. Awareness of child abuse has been increasing since the 1960s. Although most victims of child abuse present with cutaneous lesions, many genuine skin diseases may appear as non-accidental injuries which, if not recognized, may lead to misdiagnosis of child abuse. Here, we review the most common cutaneous mimickers of child abuse in order to increase awareness of these disorders and reduce erroneous diagnosis of child abuse.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Dermatology, Department of Medicine, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences and King Fahad National Guard Hospital, King Abdulaziz Medical City, P.O. Box 22490, Riyadh, 11426, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

    Mohammed AlJasser & Sultan Al-Khenaizan

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  1. Mohammed AlJasser
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  2. Sultan Al-Khenaizan
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Correspondence to Sultan Al-Khenaizan.

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AlJasser, M., Al-Khenaizan, S. Cutaneous mimickers of child abuse: a primer for pediatricians. Eur J Pediatr 167, 1221–1230 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00431-008-0792-0

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