Reply to the Letter to Editor of Mage and Donner about the work "Developmental alterations of the auditory brainstem centers - pathogenetic implications in sudden infant death syndrome" (J Neurol Sci. 2015 doi: 10.1016/j.jns.2015.07.050)

We realize that the Mage and Donner's observations do not refer specifically to our work on the alterations of the centers that control hearing in SIDS but rather on “the common belief (not only ours but also of other authors) that SIDS is a developmental defect of neurologic origin”. Basically they with this letter to the Editor highlight that there are two lines of thought about the significance of the neuropathological findings in SIDS, namely: 1) they are primary event and 2) they are secondary to hypoxia.