This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Related letters  • Related article  • Similar articles in JAMA  Topic Collections  • Neurology  • Pediatrics  • Neonatology and Infant Care  • Alert me on articles by topic  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 147 words of the full text and any section headings.

To the Editor: Dr Paterson and colleagues¹ studied the relationship between SIDS and serotonergic brainstem abnormalities in 31 infants dying of SIDS. However, as indicated in their Table 1, important data were missing or incomplete. In 7 cases, information was unavailable concerning the death scene, a major aspect in the diagnosis of SIDS by exclusion. Three cases of SIDS involved death in a car seat and 4 cases occurred in adult beds.^2-3 The cause of death in these cases could have been unintentional asphyxiation, not SIDS.⁴ The question in these cases is how the data were obtained, how long after death they were obtained, and how thorough was the investigation. In all 31 cases, toxicologic results, if any, were not listed, even though use of cold medication in an infant can result in low-level toxicity that might play a role in sudden death.⁵

Financial Disclosures: None reported.

Millard Bass, DO, MPH, ScD
millardbass@hotmail.com
Department of Pediatrics
State University of New York Downstate
Brooklyn

1. Paterson DS, Trachtenberg FL, Thompson EG, et al. Multiple serotonergic brainstem abnormalities in sudden infant death syndrome. JAMA. 2006;296:2124-2132. FREE FULL TEXT 2. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Death associated with infant carriers—United States, 1986-1991. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 1992;41:271-272. PUBMED 3. Tappin D, Ecob R, Brooke H. Bed-sharing, room-sharing, and sudden infant death syndrome in Scotland: a case-control study. J Pediatr. 2005;147:32-37. FULL TEXT | WEB OF SCIENCE | PUBMED 4. Bass M, Kravath R, Glass L. Death-scene investigation in sudden infant death. N Engl J Med. 1986;315:100-105. ABSTRACT 5. Marinetti L, Lehman L, Casto B, Harshbarger K, Kubiczek P, Davis J. Over-the-counter cold medication—post mortem findings in infants and the relationship to cause of death. J Anal Toxicol. 2005;29:738-743. WEB OF SCIENCE | PUBMED

Letters Section Editor: Robert M. Golub, MD, Senior Editor.

JAMA. 2007;297:1190-1191.

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?

RELATED LETTERS

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and Brain Abnormalities
Warren G. Guntheroth and Philip S. Spiers
JAMA. 2007;297(11):1190.
EXTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and Brain Abnormalities—Reply
David S. Paterson
JAMA. 2007;297(11):1191.
EXTRACT | FULL TEXT  

RELATED ARTICLE

Multiple Serotonergic Brainstem Abnormalities in Sudden Infant Death Syndrome
David S. Paterson, Felicia L. Trachtenberg, Eric G. Thompson, Richard A. Belliveau, Alan H. Beggs, Ryan Darnall, Amy E. Chadwick, Henry F. Krous, and Hannah C. Kinney
JAMA. 2006;296(17):2124-2132.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT