Sudden infant death syndrome: hypothesis of causation.

The airway of the young infant is anatomically vulnerable at the oropharyngeal level between the soft palate and the base of the skull. Airway occlusion at this level might occur during the muscle relaxation which occurs during REM sleep, facilitated by a hypermobile mandible, by the hypotonia of infection, perhaps by an enlarged tongue with a strong backwards sucking action which might be the result of the artificial feeding of the infant. It is possible that "cot deaths" (SIDS) may be precipitated by such oropharyngeal airway occlusion, cardiac arrest following variable periods of partial or complete oxygen deprivation.