Seasonality in sudden infant death syndrome

Article Abstract:

Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is the sudden, unexplainable death of a baby between the ages of 28 and 364 days. It is the major cause of death among infants under one year old, and is most likely to strike infants from one to four months of age during the winter months. A total of 112,804 death certificates from 1980 through 1987 for infants aged 1 to 11 months were reviewed; SIDS was the cause of death for 39,379. The risk was found to be higher for male infants and for black infants. For white infants, the risk was highest for those whose mothers lived in the West; for black infants, it was highest for those living in the North Central region. Although there is no explanation for the association between SIDS and residence in the West for white babies, the higher rate for black babies in the North Central region probably reflects generally higher mortality for black infants in that region. SIDS was most likely to occur at the end of the second month of life, and the risk was higher in January than in July, regardless of other factors. Month of birth posed a higher degree of risk for SIDS, but it was also associated with other causes of infant death. Although there are several risk factors for postnatal death, the only risk factor specific for SIDS was age. Another study found a relationship between respiratory infections and SIDS, and also found evidence of diarrhea or vomiting during the two weeks prior to death. This study also found that breastfeeding exerted a protective effect against SIDS, perhaps because it helps prevent digestive and respiratory illnesses. Parents and health-care providers should take seasonal variation into account when assessing the risk for SIDS. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Risk factors, Demographic aspects, Sudden infant death syndrome

---

Splanchnic transplantation: an approach to the infant dependent on parenteral nutrition who develops irreversible liver disease

Article Abstract:

Two infants who were unable to absorb nutrients because of surgical removal of their small intestines were treated by transplantation of liver, stomach, duodenum, pancreas and small intestine. In the first case, a 17-month-old boy lost the entire intestine from the first part of the small bowel to the descending colon. On the fourth day following surgery, the boy died after bleeding complications set in. The second case involved a nine-month-old boy who required partial removal of his small and large intestines shortly after birth. Transplantation surgery appeared successful. Cyclosporine, an immunosuppressive drug, was given to prevent the rejection of the transplanted organs. On the 73rd day after surgery, a CAT scan of the child's abdomen disclosed multiple defects in the liver, and a biopsy revealed a lymphoproliferative disease, a type of white blood cell tumor within the liver. Because of this discovery, the cyclosporine was discontinued. The patient's condition gradually deterioated and he died on the 109th day. The problems of short-bowel syndrome and associated liver failure can potentially be managed by en bloc transplantation of abdominal organs if the ensuing lymphoma can be prevented or controlled with immunosuppresive drugs.

Case studies, Complications and side effects, Surgery, Liver failure, Malabsorption syndromes, Organ transplantation, Pediatric surgery, Transplantation of organs, tissues, etc. in children

---

Similar abstracts:

• Abstracts: Breast-feeding in a low-income population: program to increase incidence and duration. Sore Nipples in Breast-feeding Women
• Abstracts: Medicine in defense against biological warfare. Implications of the human genome for understanding human biology and medicine
• Abstracts: Prison deprivation and protein nutritional status of inmates of a developing community prison. Comprehensive nutritional status in recently diagnosed patients with inflammatory bowel disease compared with population controls
• Abstracts: Ovarian remnant syndrome: experience at Jackson Memorial Hospital, University of Miami, 1985 through 1993
• Abstracts: Perinatal mortality and congenital malformations in infants born to women with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus - United States, Canada, and Europe, 1940-1988

This website is not affiliated with document authors or copyright owners. This page is provided for informational purposes only. Unintentional errors are possible.