Minor inflammatory lesions and sudden infant death: cause, coincidence, or epiphenomena?

Minor inflammatory changes are often found in tissues of infants who die suddenly. Recently it has been proposed that these infiltrates signal significant underlying infectious disease and are responsible for death. Currently there is no unanimity about the percentage of cases in which inflammatory infiltrates occur and no international consensus in regard to the minimal criteria required for their diagnosis or their significance. We recommend that the presence of minor inflammatory infiltrates should not detract from the diagnosis of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) until further study has determined otherwise.