Pathological features of persistent infantile sleep apnea with reference to the pathology of sudden infant death syndrome

A child with alveolar hypoventilation secondary to abnormal control of respiration survived for two years with phrenic pacemakers. Autopsy revealed brainstem abnormalities and other tissue changes that also have been reported in sudden infant death syndrome. Quantitative changes in the distribution of myelinated fibers of the vagus nerve also were similar to those described in sudden infant death syndrome.