Resuscitation and Prevalence of External Facial, Neck, and Chest Injuries in Infants.

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation can transmit external injuries to the face, neck, and chest regions of infants. The aim of this study was to compare and contrast observations made during infant autopsies to delineate differences in the external appearance of those who did and those who did not receive resuscitation. We investigated 344 infant deaths between mid 2007 and 2013 in Wayne County, Detroit, Michigan, and identified 38 infants (11%) who displayed abrasions and/or contusions, independent of the cause of death. Of those, 27 infants (71%) were administered resuscitated whereas 11 infants (29%) were not. In both groups, contusions were more common in homicide cases and abrasions in nonhomicide ones, thus having the injuries more reflective of the cause of death than resuscitation. In addition, abrasions were frequently seen in infants who had not received resuscitation.