The importance of the infant's upper airway in the pathogenesis of some ALTE's and SIDS

Abstract
Since it has been shown that supine is the safest sleeping position for infants, the incidence of infants dying suddenly and unexpectedly has been dramatically reduced throughout the world. However, unexpected deaths and apparent life threatening events (ALTEs) in otherwise healthy infants, that are not associated with known risk factors such as prone sleeping, continue to occur. Recent evidence suggests that an important contributor to the remaining cases is obstruction or restriction of upper airway size leading to sleep hypoxia / asphyxia. Several aspects of the anatomy of small infants makes them uniquely susceptible to airway compromise. Airway narrowing may be intrinsic, as in micrognathia, or be externally produced, through pressure on the jaw, for example due to excessive flexion of the head. Careful clinical examination and / or reconstruction of the infant's position at the time of any incident can help elucidate the specific cause for each individual case and thus prevent further problems.

Key words
Sudden infant death, Apparent life threatening events, Upper Airway Obstruction

Bibliografía del artículo

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