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Sudden infant death syndrome
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Sudden infant death syndrome is the sudden, unexpected death of a baby younger than one year that remains unexplained even after a thorough investigation, including a complete autopsy. The absence of a cause is precisely what defines the syndrome.
The most widely accepted explanation is called the triple risk model, and it proposes that three things coincide. The first is a vulnerability in the baby: either their arousal responses or the responses that adjust breathing and heart function are impaired. It is like a smoke alarm that doesn't go off the way it should. The second is an external trigger. The third is timing, a critical period of development.
Postmortem studies, the ones done after death, have found abnormalities in signaling by serotonin, a substance neurons use to communicate. They appear in areas of the brainstem, the base of the brain, that regulate breathing and blood pressure when there is hypoxia, which is a lack of oxygen, or hypercapnia, which is an excess of carbon dioxide. Even with these findings, the precise cause remains unknown.
In brief
Sudden infant death syndrome is the sudden, unexpected death of a baby under one year old that remains unexplained after a complete investigation, including an autopsy.
The triple risk model, the most widely accepted explanation, proposes that it occurs when a baby with impaired arousal or cardiorespiratory responses meets an external trigger during a critical developmental period.
Postmortem studies reveal abnormal serotonergic signaling in brainstem areas that regulate ventilation and blood pressure in response to hypoxia and hypercapnia.
Sources (1)
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, StatPearls PublishingSudden Infant Death Syndrome, StatPearlsPublished
This page explains the topic in general terms; it does not tell anyone what treatment to follow.
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