Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) or cot death: a review.

Abstract

Sudden death of an infant is not an uncommon event and when there is no adequate cause to explain the death it poses a diagnostic dilemma for the clinician, and makes discussion of the cause of death with parents quite difficult and unsatisfactory. Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) or cot death is a diagnostic entity which can be applied in such a case. It is one of the most common causes of infant deaths world-wide in the postneonatal period, from 1 month to 1 year of age. Features which may assist the clinician to arrive at such a diagnosis are discussed in this paper. Since the first sign of SIDS is death, leaving the clinician with no opportunity to intervene, attention has been focussed on whether or not the infants prone to suffer from this tragic demise can be identified and preventive measures instituted to save them. In this respect, intensive and extensive research efforts over the last two decades have led to what is now commonly referred to as the Apnea Hypothesis for SIDS, and the resultant current intervention method of home apnea monitoring. The apnea hypothesis and other aetiological factors that may help predict infants at risk are discussed. Finally, current management of infants at risk is discussed for completeness since the facilities for such management are not yet in common use in Nigeria and the West African sub-region, and the level of literacy may severely limit the size of the population that could benefit from such management even if the facilities were available.