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Is shock a key element in the pathology of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)?

Publication ,  Journal Article
Blood-Siegfried, J; Bowers, MT; Lorimer, M
Published in: Biological research for nursing
October 2009

In developed countries, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is the most common cause of death for infants between 1 month and 1 year of age. The etiology of SIDS is likely to be multifactorial, and current paradigms often describe three overlapping elements of risk. Those elements are a critical developmental period, a vulnerable infant, and one or more exogenous stressors. In the triple-risk model, SIDS infants are described as having an underlying vulnerability in cardiorespiratory control in the central nervous system during a critical period when autonomic control is developing. This vulnerability might affect the response to exogenous stressors, including prone sleeping position, hypoxia, and increased carbon dioxide. In the common bacterial hypothesis and fatal triangle, the focus is on the stressors. In the first, a combination of common respiratory infections can cause SIDS in an infant during a developmentally vulnerable period. This theory also includes 3 factors of vulnerability: a genetic predisposition, a vulnerable developmental age, and infectious stressors. In the fatal triangle theory, infection, inflammation, and genetics each play a role in triggering a SIDS fatality. From our work in an animal model, we have found that rat pups die from a combination of infectious insults during a critical time of development. This is exacerbated by perinatal nicotine exposure, a condition shown to alter the autonomic response in exposed offspring. We are proposing that shock and cardiovascular collapse is a key element that links these theories.

Duke Scholars

Published In

Biological research for nursing

DOI

EISSN

1552-4175

ISSN

1099-8004

Publication Date

October 2009

Volume

11

Issue

2

Start / End Page

187 / 194

Related Subject Headings

  • Sudden Infant Death
  • Shock
  • Risk Factors
  • Rats
  • Nursing
  • Infant, Newborn
  • Infant
  • Humans
  • Autonomic Nervous System
  • Animals
 

Citation

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MLA
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Blood-Siegfried, J., Bowers, M. T., & Lorimer, M. (2009). Is shock a key element in the pathology of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)? Biological Research for Nursing, 11(2), 187–194. https://doi.org/10.1177/1099800408324854
Blood-Siegfried, Jane, Margaret T. Bowers, and Marcia Lorimer. “Is shock a key element in the pathology of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)?Biological Research for Nursing 11, no. 2 (October 2009): 187–94. https://doi.org/10.1177/1099800408324854.
Blood-Siegfried J, Bowers MT, Lorimer M. Is shock a key element in the pathology of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)? Biological research for nursing. 2009 Oct;11(2):187–94.
Blood-Siegfried, Jane, et al. “Is shock a key element in the pathology of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)?Biological Research for Nursing, vol. 11, no. 2, Oct. 2009, pp. 187–94. Epmc, doi:10.1177/1099800408324854.
Blood-Siegfried J, Bowers MT, Lorimer M. Is shock a key element in the pathology of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)? Biological research for nursing. 2009 Oct;11(2):187–194.
Journal cover image

Published In

Biological research for nursing

DOI

EISSN

1552-4175

ISSN

1099-8004

Publication Date

October 2009

Volume

11

Issue

2

Start / End Page

187 / 194

Related Subject Headings

  • Sudden Infant Death
  • Shock
  • Risk Factors
  • Rats
  • Nursing
  • Infant, Newborn
  • Infant
  • Humans
  • Autonomic Nervous System
  • Animals