Sudden death of an infant with cardiac, nervous system and genetic involvement--a case report.

Unlabelled: We present a case of sudden death of a 1-month-old male infant with heart, brainstem and genetic polymorphism involvement. Previously considered quite healthy, the child died suddenly and unexpectedly during sleep. The autopsy protocol included an in-depth anatomopathological examination of both the autonomic nervous system and the cardiac conduction system, and molecular analysis of the serotonin transporter gene promoter region, in which a specific genetic condition seems to be associated with sudden infant death.

Primary Cardiac Fibroma and Cardiac Conduction System Alterations in a Case of Sudden Death of a 4-month-old Infant.

A 4-month-old female infant considered to be in good health died suddenly and unexpectedly. Post- mortem examination was requested, with clinical diagnosis of sudden infant death syndrome. At autopsy the infant was described in good health.

Neuropathology of the area postrema in sudden intrauterine and infant death syndromes related to tobacco smoke exposure.

The area postrema is a densely vascularized small protuberance at the inferoposterior limit of the fourth ventricle, outside of the blood-brain barrier. This structure, besides to induce emetic reflex in the presence of noxious chemical stimulation, has a multifunctional integrative capacity to send major and minor efferents to a variety of brain centers particularly involved in autonomic control of the cardiovascular and respiratory activities. In this study we aimed to focus on the area postrema, which is so far little studied in humans, in a large sample of subjects aged from 25 gestational weeks to 10 postnatal months, who died of unknown (sudden unexplained perinatal and infant deaths) and known causes (controls).

Severe intra- and periventricular hemorrhage: role of arteriolosclerosis related to maternal smoke.

Objective: The authors aimed to describe the atherosclerotic lesions of the cerebral arterioles as a substrate of their rupture and bleeding.

Methods: The study was performed on the brain of nine Caucasian fetal victims of intra- and periventricular hemorrhage, all grade IV, and nine control cases.

Results: In the nine victims of hemorrhage, the arteriolar wall structure was altered, focally transformed into a deposit of amorphous eosinophilic material.

Developmental alterations of the prefrontal cerebral cortex in sudden unexplained perinatal and infant deaths.

The aim of this study was to investigate the developmental patterns of the human prefrontal cortex involved in breathing control in a wide cohort of fetal and infant death victims, aged from the 22(nd) gestational week to 10 months of life, and to evaluate whether morpho-functional disorders are present in this specific cortical area in victims of sudden unexplained death. A further aim was to determine whether prenatal absorption of nicotine could also affect the maturational processes of the prefrontal cortex. A pronounced radial organization of the cerebral wall was evident from the 26(th) gestational week.