Unexpected death presentation in infants

Abstract

Introduction: Sudden infant death is the first cause of unexpected death in the first year of life, having social and even legal implications. In many cases, sudden infant death remains unexplained even after thorough investigation.

Objective: To characterize sudden infant death in Havana.

Method: Observational, descriptive, retrospective, cross-sectional study. The autopsy records, corresponding to 32 less than one-year-old infants, referred to the Institute of Legal Medicine between January 2010 and December 2015, were reviewed. Results are presented in tables and graphics.

Results: 62.5% of the deceased were male, 51.2% were dead on arrival at a health facility and 37% died at home over the late-night hours in the summer months. The cause of death was natural in 84.6% and violent in the remaining (15.4%); 9% were of homicidal medicolegal etiology. 48.9% of the deceased came from dysfunctional families and 53.7% had parents younger than 25 years old.

Conclusions: Sudden infant death was male predominant in younger than 1 year of age and the most frequent antecedent provided by the police instruction was the patient's referral to a medical center once he/she was already deceased. Cyanosis was seen in 56% of cases, severe pulmonary edema and interstitial pneumonitis were the frequent causes for natural deaths while suffocation was the explanatory cause for the violent ones.