Waney Squier

Last updated

Waney (Marian Valerie) Squier
St E 2023.jpg
Dr. Waney Squier in 2023
Born (1948-02-28) February 28, 1948 (age 76)
CitizenshipBritish
Alma mater University of Oxford
Known for Neuropathology research, Shaken Baby Syndrome research
Scientific career
Institutions John Radcliffe Hospital
Notes

Waney Squier is a neuropathologist specialising in the brain of the developing foetus and neonate. She has written a book on acquired damage to the developing brain [1] and is senior author on peer-reviewed publications ranging in topic from fetal [2] to childhood infection [3] , polymicrogyria, [4] hydrocephalus, [5] brain ischemia, [6] head trauma [7] [8] and mimics of trauma caused by vascular pathology. [9] She is an expert on dura mater [10] [11] and dural bleeding. [12] [13]

Many of her publications question [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] Shaken Baby Syndrome, preferentially termed Abusive Head Trauma since 2009. [24]

She worked at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, UK, but also served as an expert witness, particularly in cases where babies had died as a result of suspected abusive head trauma or shaken baby syndrome. In April 2010, a complaint about her was made to the General Medical Council by the National Policing Improvement Agency, since then disbanded. [25]

Following various disciplinary and legal processes, she appeared before the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service between October 2015 and March 2016. The charges against her related to six babies about whom she had provided reports and given evidence. It was alleged that she expressed opinions outside her field of expertise, made assertions that were not supported by evidence, and misrepresented research papers to support her opinions. [25] At the conclusion of the hearing, the tribunal determined that Squier was guilty of repeated dishonesty, her fitness to practice was impaired, and that she should be struck off the medical register. [26] [27] [28]

Squier appealed the tribunal's decision to the High Court of England and Wales during October 2016. On 3 November 2016, the court published a judgment which concluded that "the determination of the MPT is in many significant respects flawed". [25] The judge found that she had committed serious professional misconduct but was not dishonest. She was reinstated to the medical register but is not allowed to give expert evidence in court for three years. [29] [30]

Squier retired in 2017. At one time, she believed in the theory of shaken baby syndrome and appeared as a witness for the prosecution in a number of cases. However, on examining the available evidence for the theory more closely, she has come to believe that there is no evidence for shaken baby syndrome and that it does not exist. [31] She described her intellectual journey in a 2018 TEDx talk. [32]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Head injury</span> Serious trauma to the cranium

A head injury is any injury that results in trauma to the skull or brain. The terms traumatic brain injury and head injury are often used interchangeably in the medical literature. Because head injuries cover such a broad scope of injuries, there are many causes—including accidents, falls, physical assault, or traffic accidents—that can cause head injuries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cerebral palsy</span> Movement disorders that appear in early childhood

Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of movement disorders that appear in early childhood. Signs and symptoms vary among people and over time, but include poor coordination, stiff muscles, weak muscles, and tremors. There may be problems with sensation, vision, hearing, and speech. Often, babies with cerebral palsy do not roll over, sit, crawl or walk as early as other children. Other symptoms may include seizures and problems with thinking or reasoning. While symptoms may get more noticeable over the first years of life, underlying problems do not worsen over time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SIDS</span> Sudden unexplained death of a child who is less than one year of age

Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), sometimes known as cot death or crib death, is the sudden unexplained death of a child of less than one year of age. Diagnosis requires that the death remain unexplained even after a thorough autopsy and detailed death scene investigation. SIDS usually occurs during sleep. Typically death occurs between the hours of midnight and 9:00a.m. There is usually no noise or evidence of struggle. SIDS remains the leading cause of infant mortality in Western countries, constituting half of all post-neonatal deaths.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Microcephaly</span> Condition in which the head is small due to an underdeveloped brain

Microcephaly is a medical condition involving a smaller-than-normal head. Microcephaly may be present at birth or it may develop in the first few years of life. Brain development is often affected; people with this disorder often have an intellectual disability, poor motor function, poor speech, abnormal facial features, seizures and dwarfism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plagiocephaly</span> Skull malformation such that one side is flattened

Plagiocephaly, also known as flat head syndrome, is a condition characterized by an asymmetrical distortion of the skull. A mild and widespread form is characterized by a flat spot on the back or one side of the head caused by remaining in a supine position for prolonged periods.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cerebrovascular disease</span> Condition that affects the arteries that supply the brain

Cerebrovascular disease includes a variety of medical conditions that affect the blood vessels of the brain and the cerebral circulation. Arteries supplying oxygen and nutrients to the brain are often damaged or deformed in these disorders. The most common presentation of cerebrovascular disease is an ischemic stroke or mini-stroke and sometimes a hemorrhagic stroke. Hypertension is the most important contributing risk factor for stroke and cerebrovascular diseases as it can change the structure of blood vessels and result in atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis narrows blood vessels in the brain, resulting in decreased cerebral perfusion. Other risk factors that contribute to stroke include smoking and diabetes. Narrowed cerebral arteries can lead to ischemic stroke, but continually elevated blood pressure can also cause tearing of vessels, leading to a hemorrhagic stroke.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shaken baby syndrome</span> Medical condition

Shaken baby syndrome (SBS), also known as abusive head trauma (AHT), is a controversial and scientifically disputed medical condition in children younger than five years old, generally caused by blunt trauma, vigorous shaking, or a combination of both.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Subdural hematoma</span> Hematoma usually associated with traumatic brain injury

A subdural hematoma (SDH) is a type of bleeding in which a collection of blood—usually but not always associated with a traumatic brain injury—gathers between the inner layer of the dura mater and the arachnoid mater of the meninges surrounding the brain. It usually results from tears in bridging veins that cross the subdural space.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moro reflex</span> Neurologic importance

The Moro reflex is an infantile reflex that develops between 28 and 32 weeks of gestation and disappears at 3–6 months of age. It is a response to a sudden loss of support and involves three distinct components:

  1. spreading out the arms (abduction)
  2. pulling the arms in (adduction)
  3. crying (usually)

Retinal hemorrhage is a disorder of the eye in which bleeding occurs in the retina, the light sensitive tissue, located on the back wall of the eye. There are photoreceptor cells in the retina called rods and cones, which transduce light energy into nerve signals that can be processed by the brain to form visual images. Retinal hemorrhage is strongly associated with child abuse in infants and young children and often leaves such abused infants permanently blind. In older children and adults, retinal hemorrhage can be caused by several medical conditions such as hypertension, retinal vein occlusion, anemia, leukemia or diabetes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Headbanging</span> Violent and choreographic shaking of ones head to music

Headbanging is the act of violently shaking one's head in rhythm with music. It is common in rock, punk, heavy metal music and dubstep, where headbanging is often used by musicians on stage. Headbanging is also common in traditional Islamic Sufi music traditions such as Qawwali in the Indian subcontinent and Iran.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Subdural hygroma</span> Collection of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), without blood, located under the dural membrane

A subdural hygroma (SDG) is a collection of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), without blood, located under the dural membrane of the brain. Most subdural hygromas are believed to be derived from chronic subdural hematomas. They are commonly seen in elderly people after minor trauma but can also be seen in children following infection or trauma. One of the common causes of subdural hygroma is a sudden decrease in pressure as a result of placing a ventricular shunt. This can lead to leakage of CSF into the subdural space especially in cases with moderate to severe brain atrophy. In these cases the symptoms such as mild fever, headache, drowsiness and confusion can be seen, which are relieved by draining this subdural fluid.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Intraventricular hemorrhage</span> Bleeding into the brains ventricular system

Intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH), also known as intraventricular bleeding, is a bleeding into the brain's ventricular system, where the cerebrospinal fluid is produced and circulates through towards the subarachnoid space. It can result from physical trauma or from hemorrhagic stroke.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coup contrecoup injury</span> Type of head injury

In head injury, a coup injury occurs under the site of impact with an object, and a contrecoup injury occurs on the side opposite the area that was hit. Coup and contrecoup injuries are associated with cerebral contusions, a type of traumatic brain injury in which the brain is bruised. Coup and contrecoup injuries can occur individually or together. When a moving object impacts the stationary head, coup injuries are typical, while contrecoup injuries are produced when the moving head strikes a stationary object.

Jane Kivlin is an American ophthalmologist who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of pediatrics genetics and strabismus. A longstanding member of the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus, she served as President of this organization. She is well known for her contributions to the understanding of amblyopia and the ophthalmologic manifestations of shaken baby syndrome.

Kernohan's notch is a cerebral peduncle indentation associated with some forms of transtentorial herniation. It is a secondary condition caused by a primary injury on the opposite hemisphere of the brain. Kernohan's notch is an ipsilateral condition, in that a left-sided primary lesion evokes motor impairment in the left side of the body and a right-sided primary injury evokes motor impairment in the right side of the body. The seriousness of Kernohan's notch varies depending on the primary problem causing it, which may range from benign brain tumors to advanced subdural hematoma.

Dyskinetic cerebral palsy (DCP) is a subtype of cerebral palsy (CP) and is characterized by impaired muscle tone regulation, coordination and movement control. Dystonia and choreoathetosis are the two most dominant movement disorders in patients with DCP.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">General movements assessment</span>

A general movements assessment is a type of medical assessment used in the diagnosis of cerebral palsy, and is particularly used to follow up high-risk neonatal cases. The general movements assessment involves measuring movements that occur spontaneously among those less than four months of age and appears to be most accurate test for the condition.

Perinatal stroke is a disease where an infant has a stroke between the 140th day of the gestation period and the 28th postpartum day, affecting up to 1 in 2300 live births. This disease is further divided into three subgroups, namely neonatal arterial ischemic stroke, neonatal cerebral sinovenous ischemic stroke, and presumed perinatal stroke. Several risk factors contribute to perinatal stroke including birth trauma, placental abruption, infections, and the mother's health.

Marta Cecilia CohenOBE is a clinical pediatric pathologist, and currently head of the Department of Histopathology and Clinical Director of Pharmacy, Pathology, and Genetics at Sheffield Children's Hospital, and an honorary professor at the University of Sheffield. Her clinical work focusses on sudden infant death.

References

  1. ↑ Squier, Waney (2002). Acquired Damage to the Developing Brain. Timing and Causation. London: Arnold Publishers. pp. 1–227. ISBN   0 340 75930 5.
  2. ↑ Ferguson, DJP; Bowker, C; Jeffery, KJM; Chamberlain, P; Squier, W (2013). "Congenital toxoplasmosis: continued parasite proliferation in the fetal brain despite maternal immunological control in other tissues". Clinical Infectious Diseases. 56 (2): 204–208. doi:10.1093/cid/cis882. PMID   23074307.
  3. ↑ Bruch, LA; Jefferson, RJ; Pike, MG; Gould, SJ; Squier, W (2001). "Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection, meningoencephalitis, and hemophagocytosis". Pediatric Neurology. 25 (1): 67–70. doi:10.1016/s0887-8994(01)00274-0. PMID   11483400.
  4. ↑ Jansen, AC; Robitaille, Y; Honavar, M; Mullatti, N; Leventer, RJ; Andermann, E; Anderman, F; Squier, W (2016). "The histopathology of polymicrogyria: a series of 71 brain autopsy studies". Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology. 58 (1): 39–48. doi:10.1111/dmcn.12840. PMID   26179148.
  5. ↑ Squier, MV (1997). "Pathological approach to the diagnosis of hydrocephalus". Journal of Clinical Pathology. 50 (3): 181–186. doi:10.1136/jcp.50.3.181. PMC   499809 . PMID   9155665.
  6. ↑ Squier, W; Austin, T; Anslow, P; Weller, RO (2011). "Infant subcortical cystic leucomalacia: a distinct pathological entity resulting from impaired fluid handling". Early Human Development. 87 (6): 421–426. doi:10.1016/j.earlhumdev.2011.03.003. PMID   11483400.
  7. ↑ Dobbs, TD; Barber, ZE; Squier, WL; Green, AL (2012). "Cerebral venous sinus thrombosis complicating traumatic head injury". Journal of Clinical Neuroscience. 19 (7): 1058–1059. doi:10.1016/j.jocn.2012.01.002. PMID   22551588.
  8. ↑ Squier, W; Mack, J (2014). "Mineralizing angiopathy and minor head trauma". Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology. 56 (7): 699. doi:10.1111/dmcn.12416. PMID   24575866.
  9. ↑ Larsen, KB; Barber, Z; Squier, W (2019). "The pathology and aetiology of subcortical clefts in infants". Forensic Science International. 296: 115–122. doi:10.1016/j.forsciint.2019.01.011. PMID   30711846.
  10. ↑ Mack, J; Squier, W; Eastman, JT (2009). "Anatomy and development of the meninges: implications for subdural collections and CSF circulation". Pediatric Radiology. 39 (3): 200–210. doi:10.1007/s00247-008-1084-6. PMID   19165479.
  11. ↑ Squier, W; Mack, J; Green, A; Aziz, T (2012). "The pathophysiology of brain swelling associated with subdural hemorrhage: the role of the trigeminovascular system". Child's Nervous System. 28 (12): 2005–2015. doi:10.1007/s00381-012-1870-1. PMID   22885686.
  12. ↑ Squier, W; Mack, J (2009). "The neuropathology of infant subdural haemorrhage". Forensic Science International. 187 (1–3): 6–13. doi:10.1016/j.forsciint.2009.02.005. PMID   19303229.
  13. ↑ Squier, W; Mack, J; Jansen, AC (2016). "Infants dying suddenly and unexpectedly share demographic features with infants who die with retinal and dural bleeding: a review of neural mechanisms". Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology. 58 (12): 1223–1234. doi:10.1111/dmcn.13202. PMID   27435495.
  14. ↑ Squier, W (2008). "Shaken Baby Syndrome: the Quest for Evidence". Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology. 50 (1): 10–14. doi:10.1111/j.1469-8749.2007.02004.x. PMID   18173622.
  15. ↑ Squier, W (2011). "The "Shaken Baby" syndrome: pathology and mechanisms". Acta Neuropathologica. 122 (5): 519–542. doi:10.1007/s00401-011-0875-2. PMID   21947257.
  16. ↑ Squier, W (2011). "The triad of retinal haemorrhage, subdural haemorrhage and encephalopathy in an infant unassociated with evidence of physical injury is not the result of shaking, but is most likely to have been caused by a natural disease: Yes". Journal of Primary Health Care. 3 (2): 159–161. PMID   21625666.
  17. ↑ Findley, KA; Barnes, PD; Moran, DA; Squier, W (2012). "Shaken baby syndrome, abusive head trauma, and actual innocence: getting it right". Houston Journal of Health Law & Policy. 12: 209–312.
  18. ↑ Squier, W (2019). "Confusion over infant head trauma". Acta Paediatrica. 108 (2): 382. doi:10.1111/apa.14594. PMID   30256457.
  19. ↑ Högberg, U; Squier, W; Andersson, J; Högberg, G; Fellman, V; Thiblin, I; Wester, K (2020). "Do Inter-Country Differences in the Frequency of Abusive Head Trauma Reflect Different Proportions of Overdiagnosis of Abuse or True Differences in Abuse?". Journal of Epidemiology. 30 (6): 276–277. doi:10.2188/jea.JE20190066. PMC   7217690 . PMID   31178472.
  20. ↑ Zahl, SM; Mack, JA; Rossant, C; Squier, W; Wester, K (2021). "Thrombosis is not a marker of bridging vein rupture in infants with alleged abusive head trauma". Acta Paediatrica. 110 (10): 2686–2694. doi:10.1111/apa.15908. hdl: 11250/2768656 . PMID   33964045.
  21. ↑ Squier, W (2022). "Infant retinal haemorrhages correlate with chronic subdural haemorrhage, not shaking". Acta Paediatrica. 111 (4): 714–715. doi:10.1111/apa.16169. PMID   34766369.
  22. ↑ Squier, W; Olofsson, T (2023). The Neuropathology of Shaken Baby Syndrome or Retino-Dural Haemorrhage of Infancy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 33–65. ISBN   1009384767.
  23. ↑ Squier, W (2024). "Retinodural haemorrhage of infancy, abusive head trauma, shaken baby syndrome: The continuing quest for evidence". Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology. 26 (3): 290–297. doi:10.1111/dmcn.15676. PMID   37353945.
  24. ↑ Christian, CW; Block, R; Committee on Child Abuse and Neglect, American Academy of Pediatrics (2009). "Abusive head trauma in infants and children". Pediatrics. 123 (5): 1409–1411. doi:10.1542/peds.2009-0408. PMID   19403508.
  25. 1 2 3 "Between : DR WANEY MARIAN VALERIE SQUIER - and - GENERAL MEDICAL COUNCIL" (PDF). Retrieved 27 November 2023.
  26. ↑ "Medical Practitioner's name: Dr Waney Marian Valerie SQUIER" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 April 2016. Retrieved 4 November 2016.
  27. ↑ "Dr Waney Squier struck off for shaken baby evidence". BBC News. 21 March 2016. Retrieved 1 August 2016.
  28. ↑ Campbell, Denis (21 March 2016). "Doctor who denies shaken baby syndrome struck off". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 1 August 2016.
  29. ↑ "Shaken baby evidence doctor reinstated". BBC News. 3 November 2016. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
  30. ↑ Press Association (4 November 2016). "Doctor wins appeal over shaken baby syndrome trials evidence". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
  31. ↑ Lawson, Dominic; Squier, Waney; Brunert, Jonathan (15 August 2018). "Waney Squier". Why I Changed My Mind. Series 4. BBC Radio 4 . Retrieved 7 August 2018.
  32. ↑ Squier, Waney (16 March 2018). "I believed in Shaken Baby Syndrome until science showed I was wrong". TED: Ideas Worth Spreading. Retrieved 3 April 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.