Sudden infant death syndrome: are we any closer to identifying which infants will be affected?

Tara L Ramirez, Michael H Malloy

Department of Pediatrics, The University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX, USA

Abstract: Sudden infant death syndrome is a complex and multifactoral process. The classification and definition of the syndrome has changed over time. As knowledge in the genetics of this complex syndrome continues to advance, additional causes of vulnerability have been found, but no single cause has yet been discovered. Over the last 40 years there have also been many advances in the identification of risk factors that make a given infant more vulnerable to succumbing to sudden infant death. There have also been great strides made in decreasing the number of infant deaths from this syndrome by modification of these risk factors, most notably with the initiation of the Back to Sleep campaign. With the initiation of the Safe to Sleep campaign there is hope that sudden infant death syndrome as a component of all sudden unexpected infant deaths can be further reduced.

Keywords: sudden infant death syndrome, sudden unexpected death of infancy, risk factors, sleep-related infant death, crib death, cot death