Testing for osteogenesis imperfecta in cases of suspected non-accidental injury

To evaluate if laboratory testing for osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) identifies children unrecognised by clinical examination in instances where non-accidental injury (NAI) is suspected as the likely cause of fracture, we carried out a retrospective review of available medical records and biochemical test results from 262 patients. Cultured fibroblasts were received for biochemical testing for OI from children in whom the diagnosis of NAI was suspected. Eleven of the samples had alterations in the amount or structure of type I collagen synthesised, consistent with the diagnosis of OI, and in 11 others we could not exclude OI. Referring physicians correctly identified children with OI in six of the 11 instances established by biochemical studies, did not identify OI by clinical examination in three, and there was inadequate clinical information to know in two others. Biochemical testing was inconclusive in 11 infants in whom the diagnosis of OI could not be excluded, none of whom were thought to be affected by the referring clinicians. Four children believed to have OI by clinical examination had normal biochemical studies, a false positive clinical diagnosis attributed, in large part, to the use of scleral hue (a feature that is age dependent) as a major diagnostic criterion.

Given the inability to identify all children with OI by clinical examination in situations of suspected NAI, laboratory testing for OI (and other genetic predispositions for fractures) is a valuable adjunct in discerning the basis for fractures and may identify a small group of children with previously undiagnosed OI.