Unilateral hypoxic-ischemic injury in young children from abusive head trauma, lacking craniocervical vascular dissection or cord injury.

Background: Abusive head trauma (AHT) in young children usually has a severe outcome when associated with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), which is best characterized by MRI in the acute or subacute phase utilizing diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI). HIE in this setting has been hypothesized to result from stretching of the spinal cord, brainstem, or vasculature.

Objective: To provide clinical correlation in patients with unilateral HIE and to postulate a mechanism in the setting of suspected AHT.