Metaphyseal Fractures
This seems to be another diagnostic of child abuse. The real question is how valid it is as a diagnostic. There is no question that it has been used. The Webster Family is one family with many children taken off them because of "metaphyseal fractures".
Of all the injuries observed in child physical abuse, none is more specific than the metaphyseal fracture. First described in 1957 by the eminent pediatric radiologist John Caffey, metaphyseal fracture is virtually pathognomonic of abuse. Kleinman et al coined the term "classic metaphyseal lesion" (CML) to describe the injury. CMLs are relatively common in abused infants and are discovered in 39%-50% of abused children less than 18 months of age. Overall, CMLs most often occur in the distal femur, proximal tibia, distal tibia, and proximal humerus. They are seen almost exclusively in children less than 2 years of age. pathognomic, pathognomonica. a. aiding diagnosis; distinctive
News Item re Websters (Hardinghams)The expert added that the number and nature of the metaphyseal fractures suggested “that all the child's limbs were forcibly twisted on one or more occasion with enough force to cause the fractures”.