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Detection of child abuse on computed tomography imaging due to presence of severe caries: a case report

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Abstract

Child abuse can result from physical, verbal, or sexual harm. While child abuse often involves an action that harms the child, inaction, such as neglect, can also cause harm. We present a case in which child abuse was detected through computed tomography imaging findings of severe dental caries. This case was a 5-year-old girl who fell down the stairs and hit her head. The computed tomography of her head showed no abnormalities; however, severe dental caries was detected. The mother’s incomplete history and inadequate explanation of injuries further made us suspect abuse. A whole-body computed tomography was conducted for child abuse screening, which showed an unnatural fracture in the left arm. Through these imaging findings, we were able to identify and help a victim of child abuse. Physicians should be aware that severe dental caries may be a sign of child abuse.

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All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this manuscript.

Abbreviations

CT:

Computed tomography

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Funding

This study was not supported by any funding.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Gunma University Hospital, 3-39-22 Showa-machi, Maebashi, Gunma, 371-8511, Japan

    Hiroyuki Tokue, Azusa Tokue & Yoshito Tsushima

Authors
  1. Hiroyuki Tokue
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  2. Azusa Tokue
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  3. Yoshito Tsushima
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Contributions

HT: design of the work, acquisition of data, wrote the manuscript, corresponding author. AT, YT: design of the work, wrote the manuscript, revision of the manuscript. All authors participated in the design of the case report and wrote the manuscript and designed the format of figures. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Hiroyuki Tokue.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed consent

Written informed consent was obtained from the patient’s legal guardians for publication of this case report and any accompanying images. A case report is not required institutional review board (IRB) in our institution.

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Consent for publication was obtained for every individual person's data included in the study.

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Tokue, H., Tokue, A. & Tsushima, Y. Detection of child abuse on computed tomography imaging due to presence of severe caries: a case report. Oral Radiol 38, 430–432 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11282-022-00591-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11282-022-00591-5

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