A major modifiable risk factor for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)

Despite its reduction, thanks to the "Back to Sleep" campaign, SIDS remains the most frequent form of death in the first year of life. The recent anatomo-pathological research on SIDS has been particularly focused to study its cardiac conduction and neuropathological morphological substrates. The pathogenic mechanism leading to sudden infant and perinatal death is, in many cases, related to the triggering role of the autonomic reflexes caused by alterations, mostly of a congenital nature, of the autonomic nervous system which regulates vital respiratory, cardiovascular, digestive and arousal activities. It is thus essential that victims of infant and perinatal unexpected death are subjected to an in-depth histopathologic examination focusing particularly on the cardiac conduction and on the brainstem on serial sections according to internationally recognized investigational postmortem protocol.