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Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is any sudden and unexplained death of an apparently healthy infant aged one month to one year. The term cot death is often used in the United Kingdom, and crib death in North America. more...

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Diagnosis

SIDS is a definition of exclusion and should only apply to an infant whose death is sudden and unexpected, and remains unexplained after the performance of an adequate postmortem investigation including:

an autopsy,; investigation of the scene and circumstances of the death, and; exploration of the medical history of the infant and family.;

Generally, but not always, the infant is found dead after having been put to sleep and exhibits no signs of having suffered.

The inexplicability of SIDS often leaves the parents with a deep sense of guilt in addition to their grief.

Conditions that may mimic SIDS

Medium chain acyl dehydrogenase deficiency (MCAD deficiency); Infant botulism; Long QT syndrome;

Risk factors and statistics

SIDS is responsible for roughly 50 deaths per 100,000 births in the U.S. It is responsible for far fewer deaths than congenital disorders and disorders related to short gestation; though it becomes the leading cause of death in otherwise healthy babies after one month of age.

Very little is known for sure about the possible causes of SIDS; there is no proven method for complete prevention. The syndrome, known as SIDS, involves the sudden and unexplained death of an infant under one year of age. Typically, a baby is found dead after having been put to sleep and shows no sign of having suffered. Although studies have identified risk factors for SIDS, such as putting infants to bed on their stomachs, there has been little understanding of the syndrome's biological causes. The frequency of SIDS appears to be a strong function of infant sex (61% male) and the age, ethnicity, education, and socio-economic status of the parents.

According to a study published in October 2006 in the Journal of the American Medical Association, babies who die of sudden infant death syndrome have abnormalities in the part of the brain that helps control functions like breathing, blood pressure and arousal. Researchers examined the brains of 31 babies who had died of SIDS and 10 who had died from other causes. They found that abnormalities in the brain stem appear to affect the ability to use and recycle a chemical called serotonin, which is responsible for regulating mood as well as vital body functions. According to the National Institutes of Health, which funded the study, the new finding is the strongest evidence to date suggesting that innate differences in a specific part of the brain may place some at increased risk for the syndrome.