Definition
Typically the infant is found dead after having been put to bed, and exhibits no signs of having suffered.
SIDS is a diagnosis of exclusion. It should be applied to only those cases in which an infant's death is sudden and unexpected, and remains unexplained after the performance of an adequate postmortem investigation, including:
- an autopsy (by an experienced pediatric pathologist, if possible);
- investigation of the death scene and circumstances of the death;
- exploration of the medical history of the infant and family.
Australia and New Zealand are shifting to the term "sudden unexpected death in infancy" (SUDI) for professional, scientific and coronial clarity.
The term SUDI is now often used instead of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) because some coroners prefer to use the term 'undetermined' for a death previously considered to be SIDS. This change is causing diagnostic shift in the mortality data.
In addition, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recently proposed that such deaths be called "sudden unexpected infant deaths" (SUID) and that SIDS is a subset of SUID.
Read more about this topic: Sudden Infant Death Syndrome
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