Investigation of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome

Marta C. Cohen is a Consultant Paediatric and Perinatal Pathologist at Sheffield Children's Hospital and Honorary Senior Lecturer at the University of Sheffield. She is an MD, Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists and holds a Diploma in Medical Jurisprudence (Pathology) and in Medical Education. Part of the pioneering team in the UK, providing the clinical provision of Minimally Invasive autopsy using Post mortem MRI in foetuses and neonates, which received the BRI/BAYER Award in 2015. She is member of the steering committee of the Care of the Next Infant (CONI, Lullaby trust) and of the Sheffield Child Death Overview Panel. She has written numerous publications on SIDS and is regularly invited to lecture in national and international conferences on this topic. Irene B. Scheimberg is a Consultant Paediatric and Perinatal Pathologist, with over twenty-five years' worth of experience. She was a member of several international paediatric pathology society committees (IPPA, PPS, SLAPPE) and 1st President of the European Society of Pathology Working Group on Paediatric and Perinatal Pathology. In conjunction with Dr Marta C. Cohen, she has edited a manual on paediatric and perinatal autopsy pathology and on paediatric surgical pathology, and is the co-editor for the Pediatric Surgical Pathology series. As such, she has written extensively on infant death and stillbirths. J. Bruce Beckwith, the first recipient of the Astute Clinician Award, was professor and head of the Division of Pediatric Pathology of the Department of Pathology and Human Anatomy at Loma Linda University in California, and Director of the National Wilms Tumor Study Pathology Center. He wrote extensively about Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. He was one of the hosts of the Second International Conference on Causes of Sudden Death in Infants where the first definition of SIDS was agreed and he was also part of the team that wrote the 2004 definition of SIDS. Fern R. Hauck is the Spencer P. Bass, MD Twenty-First Century Professor of Family Medicine and Professor of Public Health Sciences at the University of Virginia. Dr Hauck's research focuses on risk and protective factors for SIDS and other causes of sudden infant death, including pacifier use, infant sleep location, bedsharing, infant feeding, and pacifier use. Her most recent research is a NIH-funded study to develop innovative methods in disseminating safe sleep messages. She is also conducting research on the genetic contributions to SIDS risk. Dr Hauck serves as an advisor to several federal agencies and SIDS organisations and she is a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics Task Force on SIDS. Dr Hauck has authored numerous parenting guides, peer-reviewed articles and commentaries on the topic.

Part I. The History of SIDS: 1. The history of SIDS – the Commonwealth's contributions in its formative years James R. Wright, Jr; Part II. The Parents: 2. When a baby dies, a community cries – family perspective Barbara Himes; 3. Care and support of parents after sudden and unexpected loss of an infant Monique L'Hoir and Maarten Witlox; Part III. Legal Framework: 4. Sudden infant death investigation in the UK – the coroner's perspective Christopher Dorries; 5. Investigating child deaths in the UK – the Police Perspective Phil Etheridge; 6. Sudden infant death investigation in the United States Andrew L. Falzon; Part IV. Best Practices Protocols of Investigation of Sudden Unexpected Death in Infancy and Childhood: 7. Emergency services: first responders Deborah A. Robinson; 8. The home visit Robert Coombs; 9. Autopsy: current methods and ancillary investigations Irene Scheimberg and Marta C. Cohen; 10. The joint forensic/pediatric post-mortem examination Alfredo E. Walker; 11. Minimally invasive autopsy Elspeth Whitby, Ashok Raghavan and Amaka Offiah; 12. Child death review: an effective approach for the surveillance of sudden and unexplained infant deaths in the US Theresa M. Covington; 13. Final case discussion and child death review panels (CDOP) in the UK Joanna Garstang and Peter Sidebotham; Part V. Autopsy Findings: 14. Imaging findings on autopsy Elspeth Whitby, Ashok Raghavan and Amaka Offiah; 15. Neuropathology of SIDS Waney Squier; 16. Postmortem microbiology: sampling and interpretation Amparo Fernández-Rodríguez; 17. The investigation of poisoning in infants and young children Robert J. Flanagan; 18. Inherited metabolic disease and sudden unexplained death in infancy and childhood: post-mortem samples and investigations Simon E. Olpin; Part VI. Epidemiology and Risk Factors: 19. Biological factors Fern R. Hauck; 20. Risk of recurrent sudden infant death syndrome in families Carl E. Hunt; 21. Prenatal and postpartum nicotine exposure Adèle Engelberts; 22. Misuse of drugs in pregnancy Marta C. Cohen and Robert Coombs; 23. Environmental risk factors for SIDS Michael Goodstein; 24. The relationship between breastfeeding and SIDS John M.D. Thompson; 25. Pacifier use and SIDS Alejandro Gustavo Jenik; 26. Bedsharing: what is the evidence? Peter S. Blair, David Tipene-Leach and Eve R. Colson; 27. Day care environment Rachel Moon; Part VII. Pathophysiology: 28. The genetics of sudden infant death syndrome James Steer and Srinivas Annavarapu; 29. Cardiac arrhythmias Chris Miles and Elijah Behr; 30. Sudden infant death syndrome from the brainstem perspective Jan-Marino Ramirez and Christopher G. Wilson; 31. Arousal and risk factors for SIDS Robert A. Darnall; 32. Serotonin abnormalities in the brainstem of sudden infant death syndrome Robin L. Haynes; 33. Inner ear abnormalities in SIDS Daniel D. Rubens and Sanja Ramirez; 34. Inherited metabolic disease and sudden unexplained death in infancy and childhood: pathophysiology Simon E. Olpin; Part VIII. SUDI/SUID which is not SIDS: 35. Causes of sudden unexpected death in infancy (other than SIDS) Irene Scheimberg and Phillip Cox; 36. Forensic pathology aspects of sudden unexpected death in infancy and childhood Michael J. Shkrum and David A. Ramsay.