Abusive Head Trauma, also known as Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS) results from acceleration-deceleration forces of the brain inside the skull in a shaking context. It is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in infants, with almost 40 cases per 100,000 births per year. Around a third of cases go undiagnosed at the first consultation, and it takes almost three medical visits for a diagnosis of SBS to be made. The phenomenon is such that the incidence of SBS in children under 2 years of age is higher than the incidence of accidental head trauma. At present, there are no screening tests for suspected SBS. Its investigation requires extensive clinical, ophthalmological and radiological examinations.

Our research group aims to identify serum biomarkers of SBS using innovative omics approaches. Our feasibility study on post-mortem blood showed very promising results, notably the identification of structural proteins in the brain and eyes (i.e. BASP1, ENPP2), some of which have never been described before. These results open up numerous clinical prospects, including the development of a screening test for patients with low-to-moderate clinical suspicion. Ultimately, this test would enable faster diagnosis, targeted management and a better prognosis for these infants.

To this end, we are collaborating with the University of Pittsburgh (USA), responsible for the largest biobank of sera from children victim of SBS, and with the pediatric departments of the University Hospitals of Geneva and the Hospices Civils de Lyon (France) through a multicenter study (ClinicalTrial.gov NCT 05626465).