Why the study?
Do infants who die of cot death have distinct pathological changes in cardiac specialized tissue compared to infants dying of non-cardiac causes?
Do infants who die of cot death have distinct pathological changes in cardiac specialized tissue compared to infants dying of non-cardiac causes?
The identification of an accessory atrioventricular connexion in a cot death patient suggests that ventricular pre-excitation may be a potential mechanism for sudden infant death syndrome.
Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
Does not support distinct cardiac pathology in cot death; leaves open accessory pathway contribution to SIDS risk.
The hearts from 15 cot death patients have been compared with those of 15 controls. In one of the cot death patients an accessory atrioventricular connexion known to be capable of producing ventricular pre-excitation and sudden death was identified. In all hearts examined additional segments of specialized tissue were found in relation to the atrioventricular orifices which may have been significant in producing pre-excitation. Haemorrhagic lesions were present in the atrial myocardium and conducting tissues of hearts from both groups, but no evidence was found of cellular degeneration in the atrioventricular bundle. There is a need for further studies of conducting tissues in sudden death syndromes.
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Anderson et al. (1974) studied this question.
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