Sudden Unexpected Death In Infancy

SUMMARY Autopsy findings in 26 typical cases of sudden and unexpected infant death (SUD) are reported and compared to findings in non‐infectious sudden deaths and deaths from acute infectious diseases. Lung edema and hyperemia were on the average more pronounced in SUD than in the controls. Bacterial colonies in histological lung sections were seen in seven SUD cases; in the control groups such findings were generally associated either with bronchopneumonia or with microscopic evidence of aspiration. Increased numbers of neutrophilic granulocytes were seen in the lung alveolar septa in SUD infants over 4 months of age, and occasional intraalveolar granulocytes were present in one third of the SUD cases. Covering of the face with bedclothes was the rule in SUD infants older than 4 months and was absent from SUD infants younger than 3 months of age. It is suggested that bacterial pneumonias that reach only to the initial phase of the disease may be the cause of many cases of SUD, and that covering of the face with bedclothes may be actively sought for by the older SUD infants under a feeling of cold accompanying a rapid rise in body temperature.