Cardiorespiratory patterns during sleep and wakefulness in infants who subsequently died of SIDS

Cardiorespiratory abnormalities have been described in infants at high risk for the sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS): higher incidence of short central apnea, longer central apnea, higher percentage of periodic breathing, obstructive apnea, higher heart rate (HR) and reduced heart rate variability (HRV). In order to determine where these abnormalities could be detected in SIDS victims (SIDS-V) prior to their death, a retrospective study was conducted on a group of 10 infants who underwent cardiopneumographic recording at home and died of SIDS 2 days to 32 weeks later. Cardiorespiratory patterns were studied using an automatic procedure. The data suggest that some SIDS-V infants may have a disturbance of autonomic function prior to their death. But such abnormalities were not manifested consistently in the SIDS-V group.<>