Dear Editor

May I draw your readers attention to two statements concerning SIDS made in electonic letters published in the British Medical Journal.

"The probability is that SIDS is caused by the occult presence of an impairment of mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation either inherited from the mother or acquired in utero, during parturition and/or after birth. In which case its presence should be detectable with measurements of gastric intramucosal pH made with tonometers placed in the stomach of neonates either in utero or immediately after birth. I suspect that any adverse effect that placing infants prone on used mattresses might have is no more than last straws that might break the camel’s back".[1]

"Surely no conclusion can be drawn until all the possible agents that might impair ox phos in babies have been identified, their relative potencies established in animal studies using tissue pH as an end-point, and their presence and outcome examined prospectively in a cohort of babies, their mothers and their homes".[2]

References

(1) Richard G Fiddian-Green SIDS: identifying the real cause or causes http://bmj.com/cgi/eletters/325/7371/981#27589, 5 Dec 2002

(2) Richard G Fiddian-Green Determining the cause(s) of SIDS http://bmj.com/cgi/eletters/325/7371/1007#29622, 13 Feb 2003