Increased thymus weight in sudden infant death syndrome compared to controls
The role of sub‐clinical infections
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 19461010 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Paul Nathan Goldwater (0000-0003-4822-8488, Adelaide Medical School University of Adelaide Adelaide South Australia Australia, corresponding author), Igor A Kelmanson (0000-0002-4449-2786, Department of Children's Diseases St. Petersburg State Institute of Psychology and Social Work, Institute for Medical Education of the V.A. Almazov National Medical Research Centre St. Petersburg Russia), Bertis B Little (0000-0002-6485-4641, Health Management and Systems Science, School of Public Health and Information Sciences University of Louisville Louisville Kentucky USA) |
| Year | 2021 |
| Volume | 33 |
| Issue | 6 |
| Pages | e23528-e23528 |
| Publication date | 2021-11-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | American Journal of Human Biology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1042-0533 • E-ISSN: 1520-6300 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1002/ajhb.23528 |
| PMID | 33107139 |
| OpenAlex | W3093893624 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 53 |
Objective The goal of the present investigation is to analyze thymus, brain, heart, liver, and kidney weights in SIDS victims compared to controls. Background Epidemiologic risk factors for SIDS (eg, male gender, genetic, obstetric, environmental, smoke exposure, nonbreastfeeding, etc.) are consistent with an infectious process underlying many of these deaths. Methods Data from autopsy reports on 585 SIDS victims and comparison deaths (n = 294 control, n = 291 SIDS) were analyzed. Cases were obtained from Australia (n = 184 controls, n = 98 SIDS) and Russia (n = 122 controls, n = 181 SIDS). Log 10 transform of thymus and other organ weights was computed because variables were skewed. Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) of standardized log values were age‐adjusted by multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA). The standardized log 10 thymus residual adjusted for age, brain and liver weights was computed for the final analysis. Results After controlling for age by MANCOVA, thymus, body, brain and liver weights were significantly higher among SIDS compared to non‐SIDS victims. The largest difference as between covariate‐adjusted log 10 non‐SIDS thymus weight differed (mean = 1.423, 95% CI: 1.393‐1.452) and log 10 non‐SIDS thymus weight (mean = 1.269, 95% CI: 1.243‐1.294) were significantly different ( P < .0001). Heart weight was significantly lower in SIDS victims. Discussion When adjusted for confounders (age, body, and organ weights), SIDS victims have a significantly heavier thymus and brain compared to non‐SIDS controls who died of trauma. This finding supports previously published studies that link infection to SIDS deaths
Analysis of variance · Autopsy · Confounding · Multivariate analysis · Sudden infant death syndrome · Cardiac Arrest and Resuscitation · Medicine · Neuroscience of respiration and sleep · Restraint-Related Deaths · Internal Medicine · Pediatrics · Physiology
| Citations per year | 0.75 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2022 - 2025 (4) |
| Highly cited | No |