Retinal findings in children with intracranial hemorrhage

Purpose. To identify the incidence of Terson's syndrome in children. Design: Prospective, observational case series. Participants: Fifty-seven consecutive children with known intracranial hemorrhage from nonabuse causes. Methods: Dilated fundus examination to detect intraretinal hemorrhages or other abnormalities. Main Outcome Measures: Presence or absence of intraretinal hemorrhages or other abnormalities. Results: Fifty-five patients (96%) had no evidence of intraretinal or vitreous hemorrhage. Two patients had abnormal retinal examinations. One patient had a single dot hemorrhage associated with presumed infectious white retinal lesions. The second patient had three flame and two deeper dot intraretinal hemorrhages after a motor vehicle accident (1.5% incidence of retinal hemorrhage). Conclusions: Retinal hemorrhage is uncommon in children with intracranial hemorrhage not resulting from shaken baby syndrome. The maximal incidence of intraretinal hemorrhage in children with nonabuse intracranial hemorrhage is 8%. (C) 2002 by the American Academy of Ophthalmology.