Shaw C M, Siebert J R, Haas J E, Alvord E C
Department of Pathology, University of Washington, School of Medicine, Seattle 98195.
J Child Neurol. 1989 Jan;4(1):39-42. doi: 10.1177/088307388900400106.
The fresh brain weights of 79 infants with sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) were tabulated and compared with expected "normal" brain weights. The series included 47 males and 32 females. Their ages ranged from 8 days to 16 months with a median of 2.5 months. The weights of all these brains were above the 50th percentile for age, and 64 of 79 brains (81%) were above the 95th percentile, including 15 (19%) at or above the 99.9th percentile. The ratio of the brain stem plus cerebellum weight to the whole brain weight of 93 formalin-fixed brains from victims of SIDS showed that the cerebrum was disproportionately heavier in most cases. No gross or microscopic evidence of cerebral edema was noted to account for the heavier weight. The significance of these findings is debatable. The increase in brain weight was less obvious in infants younger than 1 month of age but accelerated after that age. The brain weights of infants with SIDS may represent the really "normal" weights, since these patients were not known to be ill prior to death. If the brain weights of SIDS infants are really heavier than "normal," the possibility must be considered that disproportionately rapid growth of the brain during early infancy may be detrimental to the neural control of the cardiorespiratory system.
对79例婴儿猝死综合征（SIDS）患儿的新鲜脑重进行列表统计，并与预期的“正常”脑重进行比较。该系列包括47例男性和32例女性。他们的年龄从8天到16个月不等，中位数为2.5个月。所有这些脑的重量均高于年龄的第50百分位数，79例中有64例（81%）高于第95百分位数，其中15例（19%）处于或高于第99.9百分位数。对93例SIDS受害者经福尔马林固定的脑进行脑干加小脑重量与全脑重量之比的分析，结果显示在大多数情况下大脑重量不成比例地偏重。未发现明显或微观的脑水肿证据来解释脑重增加的原因。这些发现的意义存在争议。脑重增加在1月龄以下婴儿中不太明显，但在该年龄之后加速。SIDS婴儿的脑重可能代表真正的“正常”重量，因为这些患儿在死亡前并无疾病迹象。如果SIDS婴儿的脑重确实比“正常”重，那么必须考虑婴儿早期大脑不成比例地快速生长可能对心肺系统的神经控制有害的可能性。
