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Baby's fatal brain injury 'catastrophic' |
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Sydney Morning Herald By Andrew Drummond August 3rd, 2010 |
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A baby boy's head injuries were consistent with a "catastrophic event" as severe as falling 11 metres onto concrete, a specialist has told an inquest into his death. There were no signs of external injury to the three-month-old, who died from brain injuries at The Children's Hospital at Westmead on April 9, 2006. "If we assume that this is a non-accidental injury then I think it is consistent with a so-called whiplash or shaking injury," the hospital's head neurosurgeon, Dr Raymond Chaseling, told Glebe Coroner's Court on Tuesday. After a trip to a western Sydney suburban GP on April 3, 2006 - where the infant was diagnosed with colic - his mother left him in the care of her boyfriend of seven weeks. After more than three hours, he noticed the baby was "changing colour" and called an ambulance. Six days later the boy died from injuries that caused his brain to swell and brought on multiple haemorrhages. The inquest before Deputy State Coroner Hugh Dillon hopes to find the time, nature and cause of injury suffered by the boy. "I would be very surprised if (the) trauma had occurred prior to the visit to the GP when (the boy) presented as normal. Anything is possible but I would be surprised," Dr Chaseling said, adding that he would expect such injuries to cause almost immediate drowsiness, or possibly seizures and vomiting. It was a view shared by Sydney Children's Hospital paediatrician Dr Kieran Moran. "I think what I can say reasonably clearly is that the child hadn't suffered the injury when he was seen by his GP," Dr Moran told the inquest on Tuesday. He said there would be the "instantaneous onset of symptoms" following the occurrence of such an injury which he described as a "catastrophic event". "Involvement in a major road traffic accident, if someone was ejected from a car or a car ran over their head, that would result in (internal) injuries similar to these," Dr Moran said. "It's consistent with having fallen 11 metres onto concrete." The boy's mother, accompanied by her boyfriend, sobbed in court as she heard medical evidence that her son's brain had been "bulging" as a result of the injury and that by the time an autopsy was performed it had started to turn to fluid due to severe pressure. The couple are expected to give evidence when the inquest continues on Wednesday.
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