The human arcuate nucleus (ARCn) is postulated to be homologous to ventral medullary cells involved in chemoreception, and respiratory and blood pressure responses. Abnormalities in central respiratory control may result from dysfunction of this anatomic ventral area. We evaluated the changes of the neuronal population of the medullary ARCn in ...

OBJECTIVE: Rebreathing of exhaled air is one proposed mechanism for the increased risk for sudden infant death syndrome among prone sleeping infants. We evaluated how carbon dioxide (CO(2)) dispersal was affected by a conventional crib mattress and 5 products recently marketed to prevent prone rebreathing. SETTING: Infant pulmonary laboratory. EQUIPMENT: ...

In the United States and most of European countries, a diagnosis of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) may be given only after an autopsy has been performed. Under the new definition of SIDS in Japan, an autopsy is now mandatory for the diagnosis of SIDS. However, according to the official ...

Although gastric contents in the airways and lungs of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) victims is commonly found during postmortem examination, its significance as a sole or contributory cause of death has long been controversial. Currently, most authorities view such aspiration as resulting from "agonal" processes and, therefore, irrelevant to ...

The American Academy of Pediatrics has recommended since 1992 that infants be placed to sleep on their backs to reduce the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Since that time, the frequency of prone sleeping has decreased from >70% to approximately 20% of US infants, and the SIDS rate ...

OBJECTIVES: Raised concentrations of antimony have been found in infants dying of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). The presumed source of this antimony is toxic gases generated from fire retardants that are present in cot mattresses. The aim of this study was to determine the role of antimony in SIDS. ...

OBJECTIVE: To identify contemporary Cree infant care practices and any risk factors associated with Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. METHODS: A questionnaire conducted and recorded in the homes of 70 Cree women (83% of sample available) with infants under 12 months of age, living full time on a Cree reserve. Participatory ...

The purposes of this study were: (1) to compare our data with those reported in the general population; (2) to find a factor implicated in repetitive accidents; (3) to look for a possible genetic factor; and (4) to evaluate whether or not the risk of recurrence was the same in ...

OBJECTIVES: Familial aggregation of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) has been shown to be associated with sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and apparent life-threatening events (ALTE) in infants. We wanted to determine the incidence of OSA in infants with siblings with ALTE and SIDS referred to our sleep clinic and to ...

In a previous study, a significant increased risk for unexpected death in infancy (UDI) among Arab infants as compared to Jews (RR: 5.2) was found. The incidence has significantly decreased in both groups during the 'back to sleep' campaign. The objective of this study was to compare the prevalence of ...

This paper uses findings from the Maori section of a multiethnic infant care practices (ICP) study undertaken in Auckland, New Zealand/Aotearoa, in 1998. It aims to increase understanding of present day Maori infant care practices in order, firstly, to inform infant health message and service delivery to Maori and, secondly, ...

The diagnosis of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) has been an enigma to medical examiners and coroners for decades. The recent drastic decrease in the number of SIDS cases has been associated with infants sleeping supine instead of prone. The apparent relation between sleeping position and SIDS has led to ...

OBJECTIVES: To compare the clinical characteristics associated with sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and explained sudden unexpected deaths in infancy (SUDI). DESIGN: Three year population based, case control study with parental interviews for each death and four age matched controls. SETTING: Five regions in England (population, > 17 million; live ...

The mechanisms underlying the sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) appear to have origins in the fetal environment resulting in neural damage which later compromises responses to breathing or blood pressure challenges during sleep. The deficits appear to involve alterations in neurotransmitter receptors within regions involved in chemoreception and cardiovascular control. ...

The objective of this article is to review the literature regarding the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) in bottle-fed infants compared to those that are breastfed. A meta-analysis and qualitative literature review were performed. Cohort and case-control studies were included if they met a minimum SIDS definition and ...

The objective was to study living conditions of infants and their families in Scandinavia in the 1990s and to assess similarities and differences among the three Scandinavian countries. The emphasis is on health and normality rather than on diseases and other deviations from well-being. The subjects are the 869 controls ...

AIM: "Reducing the risk" is a public health primary initiative to minimise the incidence of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) in New Zealand. A number of SIDS risks relate to infant sleep practices. We describe current prevalences of these practices. METHODS: A cohort of Canterbury mothers delivering live infants during ...

Accumulation and re-breathing of CO2 in expired air has been suggested as one possible explanation for the strong association between prone sleeping position and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). This preliminary study applying a modern computational fluid dynamics (CFD) program to simulate the aerodynamics in an infant cot supports the ...

The relationship between thymic weights and previous feeding histories was examined in 294 infants of 37 wk gestation or more dying of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). One hundred and sixty-five infants had been breastfed exclusively, 89 had been partially breastfed and 40 had never been breastfed. We found no ...

Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is frequently associated with a mild infection, the incidence peaking during the third month of life. We hypothesize that the neonatal immaturity of both the acute febrile response and hypothalamus promote neonatal protection from SIDS. Vagal afferents modify the febrile response. Vagotomized rodents displayed a ...

To delineate clinical and histological features of the first Pneumocystis carinii infection affecting the immunocompetent host, P. carinii-specific histological stains were performed on autopsy lung specimens from 534 consecutive pediatric patients (those with AIDS and malignancies were excluded) in Santiago, Chile. P. carinii clusters were found in 4 (25%) of ...

The significance of petechial hemorrhages in cases of unexpected infant death remains uncertain. While intrathoracic petechiae occur in the majority of cases of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), their relationship to terminal mechanisms has been debated. Facial, conjunctival and external upper chest petechiae are not a feature of SIDS and ...

Local, regional, or state infant and child death review teams provide an excellent mechanism for identifying risk factors for infant and childhood deaths along with establishing a conduit for effecting preventive measures to reduce the number of deaths in these particularly vulnerable age groups. In 1997, a predecessor of the ...

OBJECTIVE: The risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is associated strongly with socioeconomic status. However, many infants who live in one socioeconomic environment, with its attendant level of risk of SIDS over the weekend, often are exposed to a different level of risk during the work week (because of ...

OBJECTIVE: To examine whether the prone sleeping position may increase the risk for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), particularly in infants unused to prone sleep. DESIGN: A 3-year (1987-1990) case-control study. SETTING: Nationwide study in New Zealand. SUBJECTS: Four hundred eighty-five infants who died of SIDS and 1800 controls. MAIN ...

Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is one of the leading causes of postneonatal mortality in the United States. To reduce the risk for SIDS, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that all healthy babies be placed to sleep on their backs. In 1994, a national "Back-to-Sleep" education campaign was ...

OBJECTIVES: To establish whether epidemiologic characteristics for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) have changed since the decrease in death rate after the "Back to Sleep" campaign in 1991, and to compare these characteristics with sudden and unexpected deaths in infancy (SUDI) from explained causes. DESIGN: Three-year, population-based, case-control study. Parental ...

OBJECTIVES: To determine the incidence of various causes of sudden unexpected death (SUD) within an entire population and to assess the relative importance of an expert autopsy, as well as age of demise, in predicting the likelihood of finding a cause of death. METHODS: We reviewed all cases of SUD ...

Given that the diagnosis of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) remains one of exclusion, problems still exist in distinguishing possible cases from those where the deaths were due to accidental or inflicted suffocation. The term 'SIDS' cannot be used unless a complete autopsy examination has been performed, augmented by review ...

Avoidance of the prone sleeping position is considered an important factor contributing to the decline in the incidence of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). To determine infant sleep positioning practices and SIDS awareness before and after a hospital-based Back to Sleep campaign. A questionnaire-based, descriptive, and cross-sectional before-after trial. The ...

It has been suggested that laryngeal basement membrane (LBM) thickening is a pathognomonic postmortem marker for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and is not seen in other causes of explained sudden infant death. To test this hypothesis, we evaluated longitudinal sections of the right hemilarynx taken through the midpoint of ...

One hundred and fifty-seven liver samples from newborns and infants who had died from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) or other known causes have been analysed by ICP-MS for Ag, Cd, Co, Pb and Sb. The median concentrations found were: 15.4 (Ag), 2.9 (Cd), 15.9 (Co), 65.2 (Pb) and 1.8 ...

AIMS: To determine whether exposure to fluoridated water supplies prenatally or postnatally at the time of death increases the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). METHODS: A nationwide, case-control study, with infant's water fluoridation status determined from census area unit information for mother's usual address at the time of ...

BACKGROUND: The causes for sudden infant death (SID) remain unclear. As infants can become sensitized to NRL allergens by pacifiers and latex mattresses, we tried to establish whether there is a relationship between SID and natural rubber latex (NRL) allergy. METHODS: We determined NRL-specific IgE concentrations in 112 unselected cases ...

Epidemiological evidence indicates infants immunised against diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus (DPT) are at decreased risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Asymptomatic whooping cough and pyrogenic toxins of Staphylococcus aureus have been implicated in the aetiology of SIDS. The objectives of the present study were: (1) to determine if the ...

The mortality rate of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) has been dramatically reduced after the supine sleeping position was recommended by health authorities. Concomitant with the decline in overall mortality rate, a marked attenuation of the seasonal distribution has been observed. So far, neither a satisfactory explanation of the previously ...

This investigation is an extension of previous studies on the possible role of intestinal Escherichia coli in sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) to include the isolation of extraintestinal E. coli. The lungs of 52 and the blood of 144 SIDS infants were cultured and isolates were investigated. E. coli was ...

A limited historical perspective can affect the questions we pose about the sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) issue. Evidence is presented from the literature that the SIDS rate in Western countries was low prior to World War II and peaked in the 1980s. An analogy is drawn with the trends ...

Aboriginal populations in Canada, America and Australia have higher incidences of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) than non-Aboriginal groups. Canadian Aboriginal populations (known also as first nation, native or Indian) experience infant morbidity/mortality rates 3-7 times that of non-Aboriginals, with upper track respiratory infection and SIDS recorded as the leading ...

Although the explanation for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) remains unknown, an increasing body of evidence now exists to suggest a possible role for bacterial toxins in the aetiology, and a number of investigators have considered that endotoxaemia could explain some of the associated features. Following the development of an ...

There is evidence that inflammatory responses have been induced in the tissues and body fluids of many SIDS infants. We suggested that some of these deaths are due to uncontrolled inflammatory responses to infectious agents and possibly cigarette smoke. The majority of SIDS deaths occur during the 2-4 month age ...

Many developmental and environmental risk factors for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) are similar to those for susceptibility to respiratory tract infection, and toxigenic bacteria have been implicated in some SIDS cases. We assessed nasopharyngeal flora of healthy infants in relation to risk factors to determine which species best lit ...

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the relation between pacifier use and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). DESIGN: Three year population based, case control study with parental interviews for each death and four age matched controls. SETTING: Five regions in England (population > 17 million). SUBJECTS: 325 infants who had died from SIDS ...

The incidence of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) has declined in response to campaigns discouraging the prone sleeping position. Recent work suggests some SIDS death may be in response to bacterial toxins produced in the upper airway. A minimal temperature of 37 degrees C is required for induction of the ...

Studies on the potential role of infectious agents in sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) have been published over the years in a variety of journals. The aim of this special issue of FEMS Immunology and Medical Microbiology is to bring together a group of the most recent studies from Europe, ...

The aim of the investigation was to determine the effect of age, gender, viral upper respiratory tract infection (URTI), season and sleeping position on the composition of the nasopharyngeal bacterial flora in infancy. Seventy-two babies, 38 male and 34 female, whose birthdates were evenly spread throughout the year were followed ...

It has been suggested that pyrogenic toxins of Staphylococcus aureus are involved in the series of events leading to some cases of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). The objectives of the study were to screen tissues from SIDS infants for pyrogenic toxins and to compare incidence of identification of these ...

The usefulness of post-mortem microbiology in the assessment of sudden unexpected deaths in infants and children has been debated by many pathologists. In our centre, microbiological investigations have been part of the post-mortem protocol for investigation of sudden deaths in infants and children for the past 12 years. The objective ...

The underlying pathophysiological mechanism behind death in the sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is uncertain. Although infants dying of SIDS frequently have a postmortem examination performed, no specific diagnostic pathology in any organ system has been identified. Previous theories relating to the cause of death in SIDS have included increased ...

HYPOTHESIS: Infants with rotational abnormalities of the midgut mesentery are at high risk for gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and for sudden infant death (SID) from GERD. DESIGN: A survey of the prevalence of GERD and the risk factor for SID from GERD in a case series of infants treated for ...