Sudden unexpected death in infancy

To review post-mortem findings among deaths presenting as sudden and/or unexpected deaths in two centers in the UK during a 16-year period in order to identify those related to cardiovascular conditions. The post-mortem databases of two tertiary referral institutions were searched, and all reports were reviewed. Histological features and results of ancillary investigations were noted. All cases of sudden and/or unexpected cardiac deaths (SCD) between 2003 and 2018 were identified. The study was PRISMA compliant and approved by clinical governance...

The role of the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) in vision has been extensively studied, yet its extraretinal capacities are still being investigated, including its role in arousal from sleep. The β2 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) subunit is involved in the laminal organisation of the LGN with magnocellular (MC) and parvocellular (PC) neurons. Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) occurs during a sleep period and, neuropathologically, is associated with increased neuronal cell death and altered nAChRs...

BACKGROUND: One of the important interventions in the infantile period is the selection of appropriate infant sleeping position. Unsafe infant sleep position is associated with sudden unexpected death in infancy. Yet, little is known about the practice of infant sleep position in Ethiopia. This study aimed to assess the practice of infant sleep position among mothers attending mother and child health service in Jimma town public health institutions, South West Ethiopia, 2022. METHODS: An institutional based cross-sectional study design was conducted on 409 women attending Maternal and child health service in Jimma town public health facilities...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

INTRODUCTION: In the case of sudden unexpected death in infancy (SUDI), eye examination is systematic to detect retinal hemorrhages (RH) that are a crucial hallmark for abusive head trauma (AHT). The aim of this study is to assess the ability of non-invasive post-mortem fundus photographs (PMFP) to detect RH in case of SUDI. METHODS: Bicentric retrospective analysis of consecutive cases of SUDI under 2 years of age were managed by two French SUDI referral centers with PMFP by RetCam (Clarity Medical Systems USA)...

The extensive and rapid development of the human brain during the first years of life complicates the postmortem diagnosis of brain edema in infancy. The aim of this study was to describe brain water content, the brain weight/body weight ratio, and the brain weight/head circumference ratio throughout the first years of life. Furthermore, we examined the relationship between these parameters and rs2075575 in the AQP4 gene. Our hypothesis was that dysregulated water homeostasis might be a risk factor for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), which may be reflected by increased water content in the brain...

OBJECTIVE: To describe pre-COVID-19 pandemic current practices in virological investigations, including type, frequency of samplings, and documented viruses, in sudden unexpected death in infancy (SUDI) and to compare results according to the cause of death. STUDY DESIGN: Between May 2015 and December 2019, infants under 2 years of age included in the French SUDI registry were classified in one of 4 groups by causes of death according to the classification by Goldstein et al...

Sudden unexpected death (SUD) is one of the challenging situations encountered in forensic medicine. As a rule, a comprehensive forensic assessment is performed to identify the cause of death in such cases; however, the absence of findings suggestive of a cause, i.e., a negative autopsy, warrants further investigation such as a molecular autopsy. In this review, we aim to highlight the genetic causes of SUD, tools used in a molecular autopsy, and the role of screening in surviving relatives. As per several guidelines, the most preferred samples for DNA extraction are whole blood and fresh frozen tissues...

Medium-chain acyl CoA dehydrogenase deficiency (MCADD) and other inborn errors of metabolism are common causes of Sudden Unexpected Deaths in Infancy (SUDI). If identified early or before metabolic decompensation, MCADD is manageable. In the US and other countries, identification of MCADD has improved through the routine use of newborn screening (NBS), which is able to identify most cases. This case study presented here occurred before NBS was implemented in Ohio for MCADD and outlines the typical clinical presentation, pathological features, and relevant biochemical and molecular markers for identifying MCADD...

BACKGROUND: Primary healthcare, particularly Indigenous-led services, are well placed to deliver services that reflect the needs of Indigenous children and their families. Important characteristics identified by families for primary health care include services that support families, accommodate sociocultural needs, recognise extended family child-rearing practices, and Indigenous ways of knowing and doing business. Indigenous family-centred care interventions have been developed and implemented within primary healthcare services to plan, implement, and support the care of children, immediate and extended family and the home environment...

AIM: To estimate the relative risk of sudden unexpected death in infancy (SUDI) by district health board (DHB) in New Zealand after adjustment for socio-economic deprivation, ethnicity and other demographic factors. METHODS: We conducted a population-based cohort study using data from the Integrated Data Infrastructure, a large research database containing linked data from a range of government agencies. The study population was all live births and their mothers in New Zealand from 2012 to 2018...

OBJECTIVE: In the context of vaccine scepticism, our study aimed to analyse the association between immunization status and the occurrence of sudden unexpected death in infancy (SUDI). STUDY DESIGN: A multi-centre case-control study was conducted between May 2015 and June 2017 with data from the French national SUDI registry (OMIN) for 35 French regional SUDI centres. Cases were infants under age 1 year who died from SUDI and who were registered in OMIN. Controls, matched to cases by age and sex at a 2:1 ratio, were infants admitted to Nantes University Hospital...

Total anomalous pulmonary venous drainage (TAPVD) is encountered less frequently in infancy than various other congenital cardiac anomalies. We present a 4-week-old boy with a hitherto unreported variant of TAPVD who died suddenly soon after presentation to our emergency department. At autopsy, we found both pulmonary veins draining abnormally into the pulmonary artery and an atrial septal defect. We wish to emphasize that examination of the major vessels and their connections should be done in situ in all autopsies of unexpected deaths in infants and children, even if there were no symptoms and signs in the ante-mortem period and despite the clinical picture not being suggestive of TAPVD...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

BACKGROUND: Though recommended by numerous guidelines, adherence to supine sleep position during the first year of life is variable across the globe. METHODS: This systematic review of randomized trials and observational studies assessed the effect of the supine compared to non-supine (prone or side) sleep position on healthy newborns. Key outcomes were neonatal mortality, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), sudden unexpected death in infancy (SUDI), acute life-threatening event (ALTE), neurodevelopment, and positional plagiocephaly...

Modifiable infant sleep and care practices are recognised as the most important factors parents and health practitioners can influence to reduce the risk of sleep-related infant mortality. Understanding caregiver awareness of, and perceptions relating to, public health messages and identifying trends in contemporary infant care practices are essential to appropriately inform and refine future infant safe sleep advice. This scoping review sought to examine the extent and nature of empirical literature concerning infant caregiver engagement with, and implementation of, safe sleep risk-reduction advice relating to Sudden Unexpected Deaths in Infancy (SUDI)...

BACKGROUND: Mortality from sudden unexpected death in infancy (SUDI) has declined dramatically since the 'Back to Sleep' campaign. Deaths now are more prevalent in those with socioeconomic disadvantage. The investigation of SUDI frequently identifies parents that have mental health or drug, alcohol and addiction problems. AIMS: To estimate the prevalence of maternal mental health and substance use disorders and assess the magnitude of their risk for SUDI. METHODS: We conducted a population-based cohort study using data from the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI), a large research database containing linked data from a range of government agencies...

Sudden cardiac death due to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), is the most common autopsy-proven cause of unexpected medical death in children after infancy. This mode of death is preventable by implantation of an internal cardiac defibrillator (ICD), a procedure that has considerable morbidity in childhood patients, and even mortality. Since HCM is an inheritable disease (usually autosomal dominant, occasionally recessive), family screening may identify subjects at risk. This review summarizes published studies carried out to identify which phenotypic markers are important risk factors in childhood patients with HCM and reviews the performance of existing risk-stratification algorithms (HCM Risk-Kids, PRIMaCY) against those of single phenotypic markers...

Background: Rates of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) are twice as high among Black infants compared to white infants in the US. While the contribution of sleep environment factors to this disparity is known, little is known about the risk of SIDS among Black infants in relation to maternal prenatal smoking, alcohol and drug use as well as infant smoke exposure. Objective: To assess the contribution of maternal substance use during pregnancy and the potential interactions with infant bedsharing in a high-risk, urban Black population...

INTRODUCTION: Dravet Syndrome (DS) is a severe, developmental epileptic encephalopathy (DEE) that begins in infancy and is characterized by pharmaco-resistant epilepsy and neurodevelopmental delay. Despite available antiseizure medications (ASMs), there is a need for new therapeutic options with greater efficacy in reducing seizure frequency and with adequate safety and tolerability profiles. Fenfluramine is a new ASM for the treatment of seizures associated with DS as add-on therapy to other ASMs for patients aged 2 years and older...