Attempted infanticide by insertion of sewing needles through fontanels

Abstract

✓ The insertion of sewing needles through the fontanels of an unwanted baby is apparently an ancient practice of which there are still instances. In this paper two such cases are described, one a man of 32 and the other a woman aged 31 with needles in a vertical position near the midline of the convexity of the brain. The first patient had had epileptic attacks for 8 years, and the other headache and hemiparesis for 7 months. Removal of the needles resulted in amelioration of the symptoms. The needles obviously had been introduced when the anterior fontanels were still open. The long interval before the onset of symptoms has been observed in the two other cases reported in the literature.