SIDS

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
(Redirected from
Sudden infant death syndrome
)

Sudden infant death syndrome
Other names
  • Cot death
  • crib death
bed sharing
Diagnostic method
Differential diagnosis
Prevention
Frequency1 in 1,000–10,000

Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), sometimes known as cot death, is the sudden unexplained death of a child of less than one year of age. Diagnosis requires that the death remain unexplained even after a thorough autopsy and detailed death scene investigation.[2] SIDS usually occurs during sleep.[3] Typically death occurs between the hours of midnight and 9:00 a.m.[4] There is usually no noise or evidence of struggle.[5] SIDS remains the leading cause of infant mortality in Western countries, constituting half of all post-neonatal deaths.[6]

The exact cause of SIDS is unknown.

weeks of gestation.[1] SIDS makes up about 80% of sudden and unexpected infant deaths (SUIDs).[3] The other 20% of cases are often caused by infections, genetic disorders, and heart problems.[3] While child abuse in the form of intentional suffocation may be misdiagnosed as SIDS, this is believed to make up less than 5% of sudden death cases.[3]

The most effective method of reducing the risk of SIDS is putting a child less than one year old on their back to sleep.

baby monitors.[9][10] Evidence is not sufficient for the use of fans.[9] Grief support for families affected by SIDS is important, as the death of the infant is sudden, without witnesses, and often associated with an investigation.[3]

Rates of SIDS vary nearly tenfold in

developed countries from one in a thousand to one in ten thousand.[3][11] Globally, it resulted in about 19,200 deaths in 2015, down from 22,000 deaths in 1990.[12] SIDS was the third leading cause of death in children less than one year old in the United States in 2011.[13] It is the most common cause of death between one month and one year of age.[1] About 90% of cases happen before six months of age, with it being most frequent between two months and four months of age.[3][1] It is more common in boys than girls.[1] Rates of SIDS have decreased in areas with "safe sleep" campaigns by up to 80%.[11]

A literature review published in 1999 in the British Medical Journal estimated that 20% to 40% of sudden infant deaths are, in reality, infanticides, typically committed by the mother.[14] More recent estimates suggest that less than 10% of SIDS are homicides.[15]

Definition

Video explanation

The syndrome applies only to infants under one.

postmortem
investigation, including:

  1. an
    pathologist
    , if possible);
  2. investigation of the death scene and circumstances of the death; and
  3. exploration of the medical history of the infant and family.

After investigation, some of these infant deaths are found to be caused by suffocation, hyperthermia or hypothermia, neglect or some other defined cause.[17]

Australia and New Zealand shifted to sudden unexpected death in infancy (SUDI) for professional, scientific, and coronial clarity.

The term SUDI is now often used instead of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) because some coroners prefer to use the term 'undetermined' for a death previously considered to be SIDS. This change is causing diagnostic shift in the mortality data.[18]

In addition, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have proposed that such deaths be called sudden unexpected infant deaths (SUID) and that SIDS is a subset of SUID.[19]

Age

SIDS has a four-parameter

age distribution
that spares infants shortly after birth — the time of maximal risk for almost all other causes of non-trauma infant death.

By definition, SIDS deaths occur under the age of one year, with the peak incidence occurring when the infant is two to four months old. This is considered a critical period because the infant's ability to rouse from sleep is not yet mature.[3]

Risk factors

The exact cause of SIDS is unknown.[7] Although studies have identified risk factors for SIDS, such as putting infants to bed on their bellies, there has been little understanding of the syndrome's biological process or its potential causes. Deaths from SIDS are unlikely to be due to a single cause, but rather to multiple risk factors.[20] The frequency of SIDS does appear to be influenced by social, economic, or cultural factors, such as maternal education, race or ethnicity, or poverty.[21] SIDS is believed to occur when an infant with an underlying biological vulnerability, who is at a critical development age, is exposed to an external trigger.[3] The following risk factors generally contribute either to the underlying biological vulnerability or represent an external trigger:

Tobacco smoke

SIDS rates are higher in babies of mothers who

neurodevelopment.[26]

Sleeping

Placing an infant to sleep while lying on the belly or side rather than on the back increases the risk for SIDS.

Bumper pads may increase the risk of SIDS due to the risk of suffocation. They are not recommended for children under one year of age, as this risk of suffocation greatly outweighs the risk of head bumping or limbs getting stuck in the bars of the crib.[9]

Sharing a bed with parents or siblings increases the risk for SIDS.[30] This risk is greatest in the first three months of life, when the mattress is soft, when one or more persons share the infant's bed, especially when the bed partners are using drugs or alcohol or are smoking.[9] The risk remains, however, even in parents who do not smoke or use drugs.[31] The American Academy of Pediatrics thus recommends "room-sharing without bed-sharing", stating that such an arrangement can decrease the risk of SIDS by up to 50%. Furthermore, the academy has recommended against devices marketed to make bed-sharing "safe", such as "in-bed co-sleepers".[32]

Room sharing as opposed to solitary sleeping is known to decrease the risk of SIDS.[33]

Breastfeeding

Breastfeeding is associated with a lower risk of SIDS.[34] It is not clear if co-sleeping among mothers who breastfeed without any other risk factors increases SIDS risk.[35]

Pregnancy and infant factors

SIDS rates decrease with increasing maternal age, with

Premature birth increases the risk of SIDS death roughly fourfold.[22][36] From 1995 to 1998, the U.S. SIDS rate for births at 37–39 weeks of gestation was 0.73/1000, while the SIDS rate for births at 28–31 weeks of gestation was 2.39/1000.[36]

Anemia has also been linked to SIDS[38] (however, per item 6 in the list of epidemiologic characteristics below, extent of anemia cannot be evaluated at autopsy because an infant's total hemoglobin can only be measured during life).[39] SIDS incidence rises from zero at birth, is highest from two to four months of age, and declines toward zero after the infant's first year.[40]

Genetics

Genetics plays a role, as SIDS is more prevalent in males.[41][42] There is a consistent 50% male excess in SIDS per 1000 live births of each sex. Given a 5% male excess birth rate, there appears to be 3.15 male SIDS cases per 2 female cases, for a male fraction of 0.61.[41][42] This value of 61% in the US is an average of 57% black male SIDS, 62.2% white male SIDS and 59.4% for all other races combined. Note that when multiracial parentage is involved, infant race is arbitrarily assigned to one category or the other; most often it is chosen by the mother. The X-linkage hypothesis for SIDS and the male excess in infant mortality have shown that the 50% male excess might be related to a dominant X-linked allele, occurring with a frequency of 13 that is protective against transient cerebral anoxia. An unprotected male would occur with a frequency of 23 and an unprotected female would occur with a frequency of 49.

About 10 to 20% of SIDS cases are believed to be due to

ion channels which play an important role in the contraction of the heart.[43]

Genetic evidence published in November 2020 concerning the case of Kathleen Folbigg, who was imprisoned for the death of her children, showed that at least two of the children had genetic mutations in the CALM2 gene that predisposed them to heart complications.[44] Kathleen was pardoned 5 June 2023 after spending 20 years in jail.[45]

Alcohol

Drinking of alcohol by parents is linked to SIDS.

alcohol use disorder was linked to a more than doubling of risk.[48]

Other

A 2022 study found that infants who died of SIDS exhibited significantly lower specific activity of butyrylcholinesterase, an enzyme involved in the brain's arousal pathway, shortly after birth. This can serve as a biomarker to identify infants with a potential autonomic cholinergic dysfunction and elevated risk for SIDS.[49][50][51]

SIDS has been linked to cold weather, with this association believed to be due to over-bundling and thus, overheating.[52] Premature babies are at four times the risk of SIDS, possibly related to an underdeveloped ability to automatically control the cardiovascular system.[53]

A 2-part edition of

PVC and other cot mattress materials are not a cause of SIDS.[54]
The report also states that toxic gas cannot be generated from antimony in mattresses and that babies had SIDS on mattresses that did not contain the compound.

It has been suggested that some cases of SIDS may be related to Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli infections.[55]

Diagnosis

Differential diagnosis

Some conditions that are often undiagnosed and could be confused with or comorbid with SIDS include:

For example, an infant with MCAD deficiency might die by "classical SIDS" if found

prone, with its head covered, in an overheated room where parents were smoking
. Genes indicating susceptibility to MCAD and Long QT syndrome do not protect an infant from dying of classical SIDS. Therefore, the presence of a susceptibility gene, such as for MCAD, means the infant might have died either from SIDS or from MCAD deficiency. It is currently impossible for a pathologist to distinguish between them.

A 2010 study looked at 554 autopsies of infants in North Carolina that listed SIDS as the cause of death, and suggested that many of these deaths may have been due to accidental suffocation. The study found that 69% of autopsies listed other possible risk factors that could have led to death, such as unsafe bedding or sleeping with adults.[63]

Several instances of infanticide have been uncovered in which the diagnosis was originally SIDS.[64][65] The estimate of the percentage of SIDS deaths that are actually infanticide varies from less than 1% to up to 5% of cases.[66]

Some have underestimated the risk of two SIDS deaths occurring in the same family; the Royal Statistical Society issued a media release refuting expert testimony in one UK case, in which the conviction was subsequently overturned.[67]

Prevention

A number of measures have been found to be effective in preventing SIDS, including changing the sleeping position to supine, breastfeeding, limiting soft bedding, immunizing the infant and using pacifiers.[9][68] The use of electronic monitors has not been found to be useful as a preventative strategy.[9] The effect that fans might have on the risk of SIDS has not been studied well enough to make any recommendation about them.[9] Evidence regarding swaddling is unclear regarding SIDS.[9] A 2016 review found tentative evidence that swaddling increases the risk of SIDS, especially among babies placed on their bellies or sides while sleeping.[69]

Measures not shown to be useful include positioning devices and

FDA approval for them as medical devices.[70]

Sleep positioning

SIDS rate from 1988 to 2006 (U.S.)

Sleeping on the back has been found to reduce the risk of SIDS.

National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) "Safe to Sleep" campaign. The incidence of SIDS has fallen in a number of countries in which this recommendation has been widely adopted.[72] Sleeping on the back does not appear to increase the risk of choking, even in those with gastroesophageal reflux disease.[9] While infants in this position may sleep more lightly, this is not harmful.[9] Sharing the same room as the parents but in a different bed may decrease the SIDS risk by half.[9]

Pacifiers

The use of pacifiers appears to decrease the risk of SIDS,[quantify] although the reason is unclear.[9] The American Academy of Pediatrics considers pacifier use to prevent SIDS to be reasonable.[9] Pacifiers do not appear to affect breastfeeding in the first four months, even though this is a common misconception.[73]

Bedding

Product safety experts advise against using pillows, overly soft mattresses, sleep positioners, bumper pads (crib bumpers), stuffed animals, or fluffy bedding in the crib, and recommend instead dressing the child warmly and keeping the crib "naked."[74]

Due to the obvious dangers, experts have also warned that blankets or other clothing not be placed over a baby's head.[75]

The use of a "baby sleep bag" or "sleep sack", a soft bag with holes for the baby's arms and head can be used as a type of bedding that warms the baby without covering its head.[76]

Vaccination

Infants typically receive several vaccinations between the ages of 2 and 4 months, which is also the peak age for SIDS. Due to this coincidence, a number of studies have investigated the possible role of vaccinations as a cause of SIDS. These have found either no relation between vaccinations and SIDS, or a reduction of the risk of SIDS following vaccination.[77][78][79][80][81][82] A 2007 meta-analysis found that vaccinations were associated with a halving of the risk of SIDS, and argued that immunisation should be a part of SIDS prevention campaigns.[80][83]

Epidemiology

Arcutio, a device designed to prevent infant death by suffocation, Philosophical Transactions 422 (1732)

Globally, SIDS resulted in about 22,000 deaths as of 2010, down from 30,000 deaths in 1990.[84] Rates vary significantly by population from 0.05 per 1000 in Hong Kong to 6.7 per 1000 in Native Americans.[85]

SIDS was responsible for 0.54 deaths per 1,000 live births in the US in 2005.

disorders related to short gestation
, though it is the leading cause of death in healthy infants after one month of age.

SIDS deaths in the US decreased from 4,895 in 1992 to 2,247 in 2004, a 54% decrease.[86] During a similar time period, 1989 to 2004, SIDS as the cause of death for sudden infant death (SID) decreased from 80% to 55%, a 31% decrease.[86] According to John Kattwinkel, chairman of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Special Task Force on SIDS "A lot of us are concerned that the rate (of SIDS) isn't decreasing significantly, but that a lot of it is just code shifting".[86]

Race

Rates of SIDS by race/ethnicity in the U.S., 2009, CDC, 2013

In 2013, there were persistent disparities in SIDS deaths among racial and ethnic groups in the U.S. In 2009, the rates of death range from 20.3 per 100,000 live births for Asian/Pacific Islander to 119.2 per 100,000 live births for Native Americans/Alaska Native. African American infants have a 24% greater risk (100.7 per 100,000 live births) of having a SIDS-related death, compared to the U.S. population as a whole,[87] and experience a 2.5 greater incidence of SIDS than in Caucasian infants.[88] Rates are calculated per 100,000 live births to enable more accurate comparison across groups of different total population size.

Research suggests that factors which contribute more directly to SIDS risk—maternal age, exposure to smoking, safe sleep practices, etc.—vary by racial and ethnic group and therefore risk exposure also varies by these groups.[3] Risk factors associated with prone sleeping patterns of African American families include mother's age, household poverty index, rural/urban status of residence, and infant's age. More than 50% of African American infants were placed in non-recommended sleeping positions, according to a 2012 study completed in South Carolina,[89] indicating that cultural factors can be protective as well as problematic.[90]

The rate of SIDS per 1000 births varies among ethnic groups in the United States:[28][91]

  • Central Americans and South Americans: 0.20
  • Asian/Pacific Islanders: 0.28
  • Mexicans: 0.24
  • Puerto Ricans: 0.53
  • Whites: 0.51
  • African Americans: 1.08
  • Native American: 1.24

Society and culture

The rate of SIDS varies vastly among different cultures and countries around the world, with SIDS rates lowest among Asian and Pacific Islander infants.[

western societies.[citation needed
]

Many popular media portrayals of infants show them in non-recommended sleeping positions.[9]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f "How many infants die from SIDS or are at risk for SIDS?". National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. 19 November 2013. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 9 March 2015.
  2. ^ "Sudden Infant Death". Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Archived from the original on 18 March 2013. Retrieved 13 March 2013.
  3. ^
    PMID 19692691
    .
  4. from the original on 14 January 2023. Retrieved 15 September 2017.
  5. .
  6. from the original on 27 July 2022. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
  7. ^ a b c d "What causes SIDS?". National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. 12 April 2013. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 9 March 2015.
  8. ^ "Ways To Reduce the Risk of SIDS and Other Sleep-Related Causes of Infant Death". NICHD. 20 January 2016. Archived from the original on 7 March 2016. Retrieved 2 March 2016.
  9. ^
    PMID 22753789
    .
  10. ^ a b c "How can I reduce the risk of SIDS?". National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. 22 August 2014. Archived from the original on 27 February 2015. Retrieved 9 March 2015.
  11. ^ from the original on 2 July 2020. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  12. .
  13. (PDF) from the original on 2 February 2014.
  14. .
  15. .
  16. ^ "Sudden Infant Death Syndrome". National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. 27 June 2013. Archived from the original on 23 February 2015. Retrieved 9 March 2015.
  17. ^ "Sudden Unexpected Infant Death and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome: About SUID and SIDS". Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Archived from the original on 20 April 2016. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
  18. ^ "Preventing sudden unexpected death in infancy". Ministry of Health. April 2008. Archived from the original on 12 December 2009.
  19. ^ "Sudden Unexpected Infant Death" (PDF). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Archived (PDF) from the original on 13 May 2016. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
  20. from the original on 24 February 2021. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  21. .
  22. ^ .
  23. ^ Office of the Surgeon General of the United States Report on Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke Archived 2011-08-06 at the Wayback Machine(PDF Archived 2009-02-05 at the Wayback Machine)
  24. PMID 30858347
    .
  25. .
  26. .
  27. .
  28. ^ from the original on 29 August 2021. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  29. .
  30. .
  31. .
  32. from the original on 4 November 2022. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
  33. .
  34. .
  35. ^ a b c d "Cdc Wonder". Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 24 February 2010. Archived from the original on 24 April 2010. Retrieved 17 April 2010.
  36. PMID 17951549
    .
  37. .
  38. .
  39. ^ Mage DT (1996). "A probability model for the age distribution of SIDS". J Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Infant Mortal. 1: 13–31.
  40. ^ a b See CDC WONDER online database Archived 2010-04-24 at the Wayback Machine and "WHO Mortality Database". World Health Organization. Archived from the original on 27 June 2004. Retrieved 18 March 2006. for data on SIDS by gender in the US and throughout the world.
  41. ^
    PMID 15384886
    .
  42. .
  43. ^ de Vinuesa CG (4 March 2021). "Kathleen Folbigg's children likely died of natural causes, not murder. Here's the evidence my team found". The Conversation. Archived from the original on 4 March 2021. Retrieved 16 December 2021.
  44. ISSN 0261-3077
    . Retrieved 5 June 2023.
  45. .
  46. from the original on 6 September 2017. Retrieved 6 September 2017.
  47. .
  48. .
  49. ^ "Researchers Pinpoint Reason Infants Die From SIDS". BioSpace. Archived from the original on 10 May 2022. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
  50. ^ "Groundbreaking New Study Finds Possible Explanation for SIDS". Goods News Network. Goods News Network. 17 May 2022. Archived from the original on 22 May 2022. Retrieved 20 May 2022.
  51. ^ "NIH alerts caregivers to increase in SIDS risk during cold weather". National Institutes of Health (NIH). 3 September 2015. Archived from the original on 10 April 2019. Retrieved 27 July 2018.
  52. S2CID 26689292
    .
  53. ^ See FSID Press release.
  54. S2CID 8017934
    .
  55. .
  56. .
  57. .
  58. .
  59. .
  60. .
  61. .
  62. ^ "Cradle of Secrets". CharlotteObserver.com. Archived from the original on 11 August 2011. Retrieved 20 July 2011.
  63. .
  64. .
  65. .
  66. ^ =1225 "About Statistics and the Law" Archived 2 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine (Website). Royal Statistical Society. (2001-10-23) Retrieved on 2007-09-22
  67. ^ "Reduce the Risk of SIDS & Suffocation - AAP general recommendations". Healthy Children. 2017. Archived from the original on 13 December 2009.
  68. PMID 27244847
    . Limited evidence suggested swaddling risk increased with infant age and was associated with a twofold risk for infants aged >6 months.
  69. .
  70. .
  71. .
  72. .
  73. ^ "What Can Be Done?". American SIDS Institute. Archived from the original on 21 June 2003.
  74. from the original on 25 October 2016.
  75. ^ "The Changing Concept of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome: Diagnostic Coding Shifts, Controversies Regarding the Sleeping Environment, and New Variables to Consider in Reducing Risk". American Academy of Pediatrics. Archived from the original on 3 December 2008. Retrieved 6 November 2008.
  76. PMID 25626628
    .
  77. .
  78. .
  79. ^ .
  80. .
  81. .
  82. ^ "Vaccine Safety: Common Concerns: Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)". Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 28 August 2015. Archived from the original on 17 April 2016. Retrieved 15 April 2016.
  83. from the original on 19 May 2020. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
  84. from the original on 29 August 2021. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  85. ^ a b c Bowman L, Hargrove T. "Saving babies: Exposing Sudden Infant Death In America". DailyCamera.com. Archived from the original on 26 February 2009. Retrieved 30 September 2008.
  86. S2CID 72279012
    .
  87. .
  88. .
  89. ^ Brathwaite-Fisher T, Bronheim A (2001). Cultural Competence and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and Other Infant Death: A Review of the Literature from 1990–2000. National Center for Cultural Competence, Georgetown University Center for Child and Human Development. Archived from the original (DOC) on 2010-06-12. Retrieved 2013-09-29.
  90. ^ Burnett LB (20 October 2019). "Sudden Infant Death Syndrome". Medscape. Archived from the original on 1 August 2016.

Further reading

External links