Morphological and immunohistochemical features of the lung tissue in Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)

Abstract

Morphological and immunohistochemical features of the lung tissue from 50 corpses of infants aged 1 month to 1 year were studied to determine their place in the structure of causes of death. Immunohistochemistry revealed decreased expression of surfactant protein B in most cases of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), which is probably due to qualitative changes in pulmonary surfactant. The data obtaine d suggest that the comprehensive studies of lung tissue of infants may contribute to clarifying the degree of risk and more accurately determining the causes of death in some cases of sudden infant death. This will help reduce the risk of diagnostic errors, i.e., hypo- or overdiagnosis SIDS and is of practical importance for forensic examination. This is especially true for those cases that require the need for differential diagnosis of SIDS with different types of pneumonia or mechanical asphyxia. Further investigations in this area should focus on the study of the molecular and genetic mechanisms of synthesis and transport of surfactant proteins, and to develop simple inexpensive methods for detection of the lungs surfactant deficiency in infants.