Apparent Life-Threatening Events and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome: Comparison of Risk Factors
Received 12 November 2006; received in revised form 22 June 2007; accepted 31 July 2007. published online 05 November 2007.
Objective
To compare the risk factors of 153 cases of apparent life-threatening event (ALTE) enrolled in the multicenter Collaborative Home Infant Monitoring Evaluation (CHIME) from 1994 to 1998 with the published risk factors for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).
Study design
Trained CHIME interviewers gathered histories of infants with ALTE who met the criteria. The following risk factors were analyzed: male predominance, gestational age, low birth weight, very low birth weight, incidence of small for gestational age (SGA), age at the event, multiparity, maternal age, and smoking. Population-based SIDS studies with >100 deaths, focusing on 1 or more pertinent risk factors and carried out during the decade in which CHIME data were collected, were chosen for comparison.
Results
One of the 153 infants with ALTE in this study died during follow-up (0.6%). CHIME ALTE differed significantly from SIDS in 4 respects: fewer infants with low birth weight and SGA at birth, fewer teenage pregnancies, and a younger infant age at ALTE.
Conclusions
Although a number of risk factors for ALTE are similar to those for SIDS, the differences warrant a separate focus on ALTE beyond that on SIDS.
University of Southern California, Division of Neonatal Medicine, LAC + USC Medical Center, Women’s and Children’s Hospital, and Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA.
Reprint requests: Joan E. Hodgman, MD, University of Southern California School of Medicine, LAC+USC Women’s and Children’s Hospital, 1240 N. Mission Road, Room L-919, Los Angeles, CA 90033.
Supported by a generous financial contribution from the Orange County Guild for Infant Survival.
ABSTRACT