In utero brain lesions in SIDS.

Serial examination of the cerebral hemispheres of 20 sudden infant death syndrome victims revealed high incidence of leukomalacia (40%), leptomeningeal glioneuronal heterotopias (70%) at the base of the cerebrum, and astrogliosis (65%) in the white matter and medulla reticular formation compared with 20 age-matched controls. These results suggest that an antepartum insult may become an important predisposing risk factor in some patients for sudden infant death syndrome.