ABSTRACT

Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is the sudden death of an infant under 1 year of age which remains unexplained after a thorough case investigation, including performance of a complete autopsy, examination of the death scene, and review of the clinical history. It is a major cause of postneonatal mor- tality in developed countries. Generally, the infant is found de-ad after having been put to sleep and displays no signs of ha-ving suffered. Despite many years of research, underlying pat-hophysiology and mechanism of SIDS still remained contro-versial but numerous risk factors have been defined. In this ar-ticle; SIDS and possible risk factors are reviewed and the preca-utions to decrease the incidence of SIDS and important role of autopsy and history were emphasized.

Keywords: Sudden infant death syndrome, infant, risk fac-tors, sleep, autopsy