Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)

SUDDEN INFANT DEATH SYNDROME (SIDS)

Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) was defined in the United States in 1989 by a conference of the National Institute of Health as the sudden death of an infant under one year of age that remains unexplained after a thorough case investigation, including performance of a complete autopsy, examination of the death scene, and a review of the clinical history. Most cases occur between three weeks and six months of age. The cause of SIDS is, by definition, unknown. One current theory is that ineffective respiration may cause the infant to stop breathing. Placing infants on their back when they sleep reduces the incidence of SIDS by approximately 30 to 40 percent. A number of factors increase the incidence of SIDS. These include (1) the use of waterbeds and soft bedding; (2) sleeping on the stomach; (3) infants born of mothers who smoke or use drugs; (4) young, unmarried mothers of low socioeconomic status; (5) male infants; and (6) prematurity and low birth weight. There is no genetic cause of SIDS, and immunizations do not cause SIDS. An autopsy must be performed to exclude abuse, injury, infection, or metabolic disease. These diagnoses remove the cases from the SIDS category.

MARVIN S. PLATT

(SEE ALSO: Child Mortality; Perinatology)

BIBLIOGRAPHY

DiMaio, D. J., and DiMaio, V. J. (1993). Forensic Pathology. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.

Hauck, F. R., and Hunt, C. E. (2000). "Sudden Infant Death Syndrome in 2000." Current Problems in Pediatrics 30:237–268.

Spitz, W. U. (1993). Medicolegal Investigation of Death, 3rd edition. Springfield, MA: Charles C. Thomas.