Nasopharyngitis and the sudden infant death syndrome.

Infants who died of SIDS in Onondaga County (New York) were classified into a Nasopharyngitis Group (N = 59) or a No Nasopharyngitis Group (N = 57) on the basis of symptoms, within one week prior to death, referable to the upper respiratory tract. Examination of the postnatal age of death revealed that infants in the Nasopharyngitis Group tended to be older than those in the No Nasopharyngitis Group. These results are consistent with a prediction derived from the hypothesis that prolonged sleep apnea is part of a pathophysiologic process resulting in SIDS.