Restrictive Diet Control as a Means of Child Abuse.

We have recently encountered a series of cases where an obese caretaker is juxtaposed to a severely starved, malnourished dependent. The cases described all share a common characteristic: that the primary perpetrator was an obese caretaker who tried to exert absolute control over their victim's daily life in a way that included either a severe restriction or complete denial of food. Because the pathophysiology of both child abuse and obesity are incredibly complex and multifactorial, these cases are presented to encourage further discussion and more rigorous investigation into the validity of a hypothesis that has been derived from this set of cases: that the obesity of a child's caretaker may be an additional risk factor for child maltreatment by starvation.

Medical Neglect as a Contributor to Poorly Controlled Asthma in Childhood.

Child maltreatment, including medical neglect, is a frequent contributor to the development of asthma as well as a barrier to its proper management. This article aims to review the role of medical neglect as a contributor to poor asthma control. Medical neglect can present as failure of the caretaker to recognize severe asthma symptoms in a child, non-adherence to medical management, failure to prevent chronic exposure to allergens or tobacco smoke, poor child nutrition leading to obesity, and allowing a young child to manage his/her illness without supervision. This article will explore the different factors leading to medical neglect (as illustrated by two cases) and suggest possible interventions aiming to prevent emergency department visits, hospitalizations, and asthma-related deaths.

Correction to: Medical Neglect as a Contributor to Poorly Controlled Asthma in Childhood.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1007/s40653-019-00290-0.].

Medical Neglect in Childhood.

This introduction provides an overview to the special issues on medical neglect in childhood guest edited by Barbara L. Knox, MD, FAAP, Clinical Professor of Pediatrics, University of Washington School of Medicine, The Children's Hospital at Providence, Medical Director of Alaska Child Abuse Response and Evaluation Services; Randell C. Alexander, MD, PhD, FAAP, Professor and Chief, Division of Child Protection and Forensic Pediatrics at the University of Florida-Jacksonville; Francois M. Luyet, MD, Clinical Assistant Professor, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health; and Debra D. Esernio-Jenssen, Professor of Pediatrics at the Morsani College of Medicine USF Health in Tampa, Florida and the Chief of Child Protection Medicine at Lehigh Valley Reilly Children's Hospital. Ten articles are included in this special edition aiming to explore the role of medical neglect in situations commonly encountered by practitioners.

The Big Black Brain: Subdural Hemorrhage with Hemispheric Swelling and Low Attenuation.

The term "Big Black Brain" was first coined in 1993 to describe cases of abusive head trauma associated with subdural hematoma(s), brain swelling, and uni- or bilateral hypo-density involving the entire supratentorial compartment on CT scan imaging. This constellation of findings was invariably followed by extensive cerebral parenchymal destruction and a dismal neurological outcome or death. We describe two such cases and review the pathophysiology and differential diagnosis of this entity.