Sudden Infant Death Syndrome — the overview of the problem from XXI century

Abstract

Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is sudden non-violent death of apparently healthy infant with absence of adequate reasons of the death according to the medical history and pathomorphological examination. At the present times SIDS is one of the most significant causes of postneonatal infants’ mortality in most developed countries in the world. The main and stable characteristics of SIDS are: death during the sleep and, mainly, in prone position; the peak of SIDS cases is in 2–4 months old; it frequently occurs in premature children and infants with low inborn body weight and in boys (60%); symptoms of mild respiratory infection precede SIDS. Clinical data, analysis of heart rate and breathing in children dead by SIDS afterwards, and experiments with animal models show that the leading pathologic mechanism of SIDS are cardio-respiratory disorders. The program of prophylaxis of ominous states and SIDS includes definition of risk groups with typical clinical and instrumental criteria and observation of children from risk groups.Key words: sudden infant death syndrome, mechanisms, prophylaxis.