2 results
Foreword
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- By Roger W Byard, School of Medicine, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia and Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Victoria, Australia, Jhodie R Duncan, School of Medicine, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia and Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Victoria, Australia
- Edited by Jodhie R. Duncan, University of Melbourne, Roger W. Byard, University of Adelaide
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- Book:
- SIDS Sudden Infant and Early Childhood Death
- Published by:
- The University of Adelaide Press
- Published online:
- 20 July 2018
- Print publication:
- 30 April 2018, pp xiii-xiv
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- Chapter
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Summary
There has been a great need for a text such as this for some time now, with the last general book on sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) published over a decade and a half ago, in 2001. Since that time many significant developments have occurred in our understanding of sudden and unexplained deaths in pediatrics, ranging from updated definitions with increased emphasis on mandatory death scene investigations to highquality scientific work examining the role of neurotransmitter abnormalities in the brain. The issue of sudden death in toddlers over a year of age (SUDC) has also become an area of study, with a clearer understanding of the usefulness of the more general term sudden and unexpected death in infancy (SUDI). The Triple Risk Model has stood the test of time and has facilitated the integration of laboratory-based work with epidemiological risk factors. Many fringe theories have fortunately finally fallen into well-deserved historical obscurity along with odd entities such as status thymicolymphaticus.
As the reader will quickly realise, the text is an extremely eclectic mix of chapters written by experts in their respective fields. Important chapters deal with the history of SIDS, the role of parent organizations in promoting bereavement support, the very raw issue of parental grief, and research into the underlying mechanisms associated with SUDI. The later chapters focus variably on processes and locations, particularly within the brain, the roles of which in SUDI are being more clearly teased out and understood.
Of necessity there is some repetition in chapters, as SIDS and SUDI in general are a heterogeneous mix of mechanisms and processes that cannot be boxed into discrete areas. While this has sometimes led to different authors taking somewhat contradictory positions on certain subjects, it merely reflects the complexity and reality of the SIDS/SUDI arena today.
The editors hope that this text will have enabled experts from a variety of backgrounds to explain and elaborate on their particular areas of study and investigation. It will also serve as a summary of SIDS, SUDI, and SUDC as we know them today, and will lay the foundation for further exciting discoveries. As such, hopefully this book will provide an invaluable resource for individuals across many arenas, including parents, clinicians, medical examiners, and researchers. We are very close to understanding why SIDS/ SUDI occurs: our next challenge is to prevent these tragic deaths from ever happening.
2 - Sudden Infant Death Syndrome: An Overview
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- By Jhodie R Duncan, School of Medicine, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia and Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Victoria, Australia, Roger W Byard, School of Medicine, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia and Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Victoria, Australia
- Edited by Jodhie R. Duncan, University of Melbourne, Roger W. Byard, University of Adelaide
-
- Book:
- SIDS Sudden Infant and Early Childhood Death
- Published by:
- The University of Adelaide Press
- Published online:
- 20 July 2018
- Print publication:
- 30 April 2018, pp 15-50
-
- Chapter
- Export citation
-
Summary
Introduction
The term sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) was first proposed in 1969 in order to focus attention on a subgroup of infants with similar clinical features whose deaths occurred unexpectedly in the postnatal period (1). Today the definition of SIDS refers to death in a seemingly healthy infant younger than 1 year of age whose death remains unexplained after a thorough case investigation including a complete autopsy, review of medical and clinical history, and death scene investigation (2). SIDS is typically associated with a sleep period (3) with death presumed to have occurred during sleep itself or in the transition between sleep and waking (4). This led to application of the terms “cot” or “crib” death; however, these terms are rarely used today. Furthermore, while the definition is inclusive of infants up to 1 year of age, approximately 95% of SIDS deaths occur in the first six months of life with a peak incidence in infants aged between 2 to 4 months (5). While there are distinctive features associated with the syndrome there are no diagnostic features that can be attributed to a SIDS death. Indeed, application of the term relies on a process of elimination and when no known cause of death or contributing factors can be determined, the term SIDS is usually applied. Thus, while the debate continues regarding the definition and use of the term SIDS, and no one definition has been universally accepted, one certainty persists, and that is that SIDS still remains a diagnosis of exclusion (1).
History
Sudden death in a seemingly healthy infant during sleep is not a phenomenon of modern times, with cases being recorded throughout history for thousands of years. Indeed, one of the first cases is mentioned in the Bible (1 Kings 3:19). However, these deaths have generally been attributed to overlaying, as it was common practice to sleep in the same bed as a child. Indeed, the death of an infant by “overlay” was considered such an issue that by the seventh century the event was a punishable offence (6), with the introduction of a “protective” wooden arcuccio for infants to sleep in during the 18th century in Europe with severe penalties if the infant died in a co-sleeping arrangement and the frame was not used (7).