Journal de médecine légale

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome: Forensic Autopsy Findings in Post-neonatal Deaths. Bogota, Colombia 2010

Abstract

María Luisa Latorre, Carolina Zambrano and Sandra Moreno

Background: The Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) is diagnosed by default when it is not possible to identify the cause of infant death after a complete study including forensic autopsy and death scene investigation. However, Colombia does not mandate a complete study of these deaths, and only some of these cases meet that standard. This research will show the results of those forensic autopsy performed of post neonatal infants deaths in Bogota', Colombia, in 2010, to call attention of the national sanitary authority to the importance of conducting a comprehensive study to conclude what caused the death of these children, who, without it, generally remain reported as "under study" or "indeterminate".

Objective: To describe the findings in the forensic autopsy performed in post neonatal subjects at the National Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences (INMLCF) in Bogotá, Colombia, in 2010, in order to characterize and describe what could be compatible with SIDS or other sudden and unexpected infant deaths (SUID) meeting international standards.

Methods: The information collected by the INMLCF of all post neonatal deaths that were the subject of medicolegal autopsywas reviewed; the infant case population was characterized by age, sex, cause and manner of death, and the other variables available for study, including the known risk factors for SIDS.

Results: We studied 150 cases of neonatal and post neonatal deaths with medico legal autopsy. In 36 cases the cause of death was determined including two cases of stillbirth. The remaining 114 cases were reviewed and characterized individually, using all available information; 95 deaths were considered compatible with SIDS/SUDI.

Conclusions: It is necessary to have a standard protocol to study infant deaths in Colombia to quantify the SIDS/ SUDI problem. However, with the available information it is possible to estimate a baseline that reflects the magnitude of the problem and contribute to its solution.