An Approach to the Classification of Apparent Asphyxial Infant Deaths

Infant death resulting from sharing a cot with a 10-year-old boy

An infant may die from unintentional suffocation if their exhausted, or inebriated or sedated mothers fall asleep while breast feeding or just sharing a bed and roll over on to them. The mother wakes up to find the baby dead in the morning. Diagnosis is complex due to minuscule autopsy findings and denial by parents about overlaying although it was accidental. Unusually, in this case, the baby was "over layed" by a young male child from the same family. The female baby was found listless next morning by her mother and died after three months of treatment. Death circumstances, non-sudden outcome, and unusual circumstances of overlaying the baby.

Five-year review (2014-2019) of paediatric accidental deaths in Cook County, Illinois (USA)

In the USA, intentional and accidental injuries are the most frequent causes of death in children. Many of these deaths could be avoided through preventive measures, and aetiological studies are needed to reduce fatalities. The leading causes of accidental death vary by age. We analysed all paediatric accidental deaths recorded by a busy urban Medical Examiner"s Office in Chicago, Illinois (USA). We searched the electronic database for accidental deaths in children aged under 10 between 1 August 2014 and 31 July 2019. 131 deaths were identified with a preponderance of males and African Americans. This is consistent with ratios of other deaths recorded for this age group (during the same period and area). The leading causes of death were asphyxia due to an unsafe sleeping environment (in subjects <1-year-old), and road traffic accidents/drowning (in subjects >1-year-old). Behaviours, risk factors and environments most likely to contribute to fatal injuries are discussed. Our study highlights the role of forensic pathologists and medico-legal death investigators who identify the causes and circumstances surrounding these deaths. The research results may help from an epidemiological perspective to implement age-specific preventive strategies.

Comparing asphyxia and unexplained causes of death: a retrospective cohort analysis of sleep-related infant death cases from a state child fatality review programme

OBJECTIVES

To examine the characteristics and circumstances of infants who died while sleeping or in a sleep environment and compare deaths classified as either unintentional asphyxia or an unexplained cause.

DESIGN

A retrospective cohort study.

SETTING

Data were extracted from the National Fatality Review Case Reporting System and Florida Vital Statistics databases.

PARTICIPANTS

Data on 778 sleep-related infant deaths occurring from 2014 to 2018 in Florida were analysed.

PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURE

Cause of death classification as unintentional asphyxia or unexplained.

RESULTS

Overall, 36% (n=276) of sleep-related infant deaths in this study sample were classified as resulting from an unexplained cause compared with unintentional asphyxia. Most infants were reported to be in an adult bed (60%; n=464) and sharing a sleep surface with a person or animal (60%; n=468); less than half (44%; n=343) were reportedly placed to sleep on their back. After controlling for the influence of other independent variables, female sex (adjusted risk ratio: 1.36; 95% CI 1.06 to 1.74) and fully obstructed airway condition (adjusted risk ratio: 0.30; 95% CI 0.18 to 0.50) were associated with an unexplained cause of death.

CONCLUSIONS

The results of this analysis indicate that sleep environment hazards remain prevalent among infants who die suddenly and unexpectedly, regardless of the cause of death determination. While significant differences were observed for some factors, in many others the distributions of both demographic and incident characteristics were similar between unexplained deaths and those resulting from asphyxia. The results of this study support growing evidence that unsafe sleep environments contribute to all forms of sudden unexpected infant death, underscoring the need for standardising cause of death determination practices and promoting consistent, high-quality forensic investigations to accurately explain, monitor and prevent these deaths.

Indeterminacy of the Diagnosis of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Leading to Problems with the Validity of Data

The validity of infant mortality data is essential in assessing health care quality and in the setting of preventive measures. This study explores different diagnostic procedures used to determine the cause of death across forensic settings and thus the issue of the reduced validity of data. All records from three forensic medical departments that conducted autopsies on children aged 12 months or younger (n = 204) who died during the years 2007–2016 in Moravia were included. Differences in diagnostic procedures were found to be statistically significant. Each department works with a different set of risk factors and places different emphasis on different types of examination. The most significant differences could be observed in sudden infant death syndrome and suffocation diagnosis frequency. The validity of statistical data on the causes of infant mortality is thus significantly reduced. Therefore, the possibilities of public health and social policy interventions toward preventing sudden and unexpected infant death are extraordinarily complicated by this lack of data validity.

Pathologizing the Unknown: A Sociological Explanation for the (Mis-)Use of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome as a Diagnosis

Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is a diagnosis given to infants who die suddenly and unexpectedly before the age of one. After decades of research into SIDS, little has been conclusively determined regarding the etiology of this phenomenon. While SIDS deaths are in reality undetermined deaths, there is resistance to abandon SIDS and synonymous terminology. This paper identifies the social functions that a diagnosis of SIDS provides both to the families of the deceased, as well as the physicians who treat them. It is suggested that these social functions help to explain why, despite being inaccurate and misleading, SIDS is still widely used today. It is argued, however, that the forensic pathology and medical community as a whole should lead a systematic shift away from the use of SIDS as a diagnosis. Adopting more medically-appropriate terminology would better serve the goals of the medical profession and the families they serve.