Young Children Who Suffer Head Trauma Should Have An Ophthalmologic Exam, Report Says.

MedPage Today (7/26, Walsh) reported that, according to a clinical report from the American Academy of Pediatrics published online July 26 in the journal Pediatrics, “children younger than five who suffer head trauma or an unexplained life-threatening event should have an ophthalmologic evaluation, particularly if there is suspicion of abuse.” The report suggested that “this ophthalmologic exam should be done, whenever possible, with indirect ophthalmoscopy and pupil dilation, preferably within the first 24 hours of injury, because the ocular findings may be transient.” The report noted that “the range of retinal abnormalities associated with head trauma is wide and can include small, intraretinal hemorrhages confined to the posterior pole to numerous, multilayered hemorrhages extending to the edge of the retina.”