Another Aspect of the SIDS Problem

Dr Valdeś-Dapena's well-organized review article, "Sudden Infant Death Syndrome: A Review of the Medical Literature 1974-1979" in the October issue (Pediatrics 66:597, 1980) was an excellent analysis of the current literature of this confusing and complex entity. The extensive bibliography will be most helpful to any individual interested in the subject. The clinician providing primary care for children is likely to be confronted with the sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) phenomenon in one of three ways: First, there is the necessity of dealing with a family who has just lost a baby.

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A CASE OF SUDDEN INFANT DEATH SYNDROME (SIDS) AS REPORTED IN 1863

PEDIATRICS ◽

10.1542/peds.70.3.369 ◽

1982 ◽

Vol 70 (3) ◽

pp. 369-369

Author(s):

T. E. C.

Keyword(s):

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome ◽

Infant Death ◽

Harvard Medical School ◽

Medical Literature ◽

Sudden Infant Death ◽

Sudden Infant ◽

Perfect Health ◽

Serous Effusion ◽

The Face ◽

The Brain

On March 9, 1863, Dr David Cheever, Adjunct Professor of Clinical Surgery at the Harvard Medical School, presented the following case report of the sudden infant death syndrome at a meeting of the Boston Society for Medical Improvement.1 His report is one of the earliest descriptions of this syndrome in the American medical literature. An infant, 10 weeks old, apparently in perfect health, suddenly died while sleeping, and after having been asleep one and a half hours. There had been no struggle, and the face was not livid. On post-mortem examination, Dr C. found no morbid appearances, except some serous effusion in the ventricles and at the base of the brain; the latter organ was also somewhat congested. The thoracic organs were all healthy, and the larynx free of obstruction. An infant cousin of the child had died in a precisely similar manner. Dr C. was unable to account for the death, unless the effusion might possibly have been accumulating insidiously for some time until it became sufficient to destroy life.

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Sudden Infant Death Syndrome: A Review of the Medical Literature 1974-1979

PEDIATRICS ◽

10.1542/peds.66.4.597 ◽

1980 ◽

Vol 66 (4) ◽

pp. 597-614

Author(s):

Marie A. Valdeś-Dapena

Keyword(s):

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome ◽

Infant Death ◽

Medical Literature ◽

Sudden Infant Death ◽

Sudden Infant ◽

Relative Importance ◽

Clinical Issues ◽

Comprehensive Review ◽

Pathologic Anatomy

In the last five years there have been literally hundreds of articles in the world's medical literature regarding sudden infant death syndrome. This work has shed some light on various epidemiologic aspects of the problem, on pathologic anatomy, and on clinical issues such as the relative importance of spontaneous, protracted, idiopathic apnea and prolongation of the Q-T interval. This relatively comprehensive review treats only a limited number of these subjects and publications in an attempt to bring the reader more or less up-to-date on the major aspects of developments over the last five years.

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