NCJ Number
145752
Journal
Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume: 38 Issue: 4 Dated: (July 1993) Pages: 821-830
Date Published
1993
Length
10 pages
Annotation
This study of unexplained and violent deaths of children less than 1 year of age in the city and county of San Francisco during 1989 and 1990 found that 34 deaths involved sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), seven were accidents, and two were homicides.
Abstract
Infant deaths in 62 cases were examined with respect to sex, race, age, height and weight, cause and manner of death, significant autopsy and microscopic findings, circumstances of death including place, person discovering or reporting the death, presence of siblings in previous child deaths in the family, and previous illness in the same child. The 34 SIDS cases had rather uniform distribution, and non-SIDS deaths had a similar distribution. The black population showed a higher death rate than the white population. The most common pathological findings included pulmonary congestion, pulmonary edema, and intrathoracic petechiae. The history of a previous illness was similar in both SIDS and non-SIDS groups. Literature on infant deaths is reviewed, and international standardization of methods for death investigations and postmortem examinations is suggested. The necropsy protocol written and approved by California's Department of Health Services for Sudden Unexpected Infant Death is described. 30 references and 15 tables