This article examines the evidence that the effect
of head injury on young children may differ from that in
adults, in that while in the latter the pattern is of deficits
that recover with time since the accident, this is not
necessarily the case with very young children. In this
group, there may be no evidence of any deficit in the early
days or weeks after injury, but the children may fail to
develop some skills as quickly as children who have not
had a head injury. Results from a series of studies of
MHI in preschool children carried out over a more than
10-year period from Auckland Hospital and recently published
studies of pediatric MHI from other groups are reviewed.
It is concluded from a comparison of these data that there
is a need for long-term prospective studies designed within
a developmental framework to clarify the issue. (JINS,
1997, 3, 592–597.)