Establishment of a non-invasive method of examination of the thymus in children from the perspectives of clinical forensic evaluation of child abuse

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K22761
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Research (Exploratory)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Medium-sized Section 58:Society medicine, nursing, and related fields
• Research Institution: Yamaguchi University
• Principal Investigator: TAKASE Izumi 山口大学, 大学院医学系研究科, 教授 (30351406)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 水谷 誠 山口大学, 大学院医学系研究科, 助教 (10593303) ; 鯉渕 晴美 自治医科大学, 医学部, 准教授 (20382848)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-06-28 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 胸腺退縮 / 子ども虐待 / 超音波検査 / 非侵襲的検査

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We planned to measure the size of the thymus in preschool children without diseases affecting thymic function with ultrasonography, and to accumulate data while establishing the method (control group). On the other hand, we planned to conduct the same examination on preschool children suspected of being abused (abused group), and explore its application to the identification of abused children in clinical forensic evaluation. Furthermore, using the data of the abused group, we planned to examine the correlation with the estimated period of abuse obtained by injury assessments and police investigations. To conduct these studies, we planned to obtain ultrasound images of the thymus at medical checkups in nursery schools and municipalities, but could not achieve them due to the COVID-19 disaster. Therefore, we conducted a histological research using autopsy cases of infants, suggesting that the ectopic thymus may be immature compared to the normal thymus.

Free Research Field

（臨床）法医学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

乳児の窒息の過程に関わり得る異所性胸腺の組織学的特徴を明らかにでき、法医学での死因の鑑定への貢献が期待され、発生学・免疫組織化学・病理学・頭頸部外科学・小児科学への知見の共有で突然死の予防にも寄与し得る。超音波を用いた胸腺の非侵襲的検査法の確立は、虐待鑑定・診断に関わる法医学・小児科学、臨床検査学、さらに犯罪学、法学へ与える影響が大きく、虐待の早期発見・防止という社会的意義からも検討を継続する。