Abstract â–¡ 93

Sleep studies in future SIDS infants show repeated obstructive sleep apneas, usually terminated by a brisk arousal. Such sleep recordings also reveal a decreased frequency in body movements, and a lower frequency and duration of spontaneous arousals from sleep in the future SIDS victims, compared to matched control subjects. Risk factors for SIDS include environmental factors, such as the prone sleep position, high environmental temperature or prenatal smoking. Healthy infants exposed to these risk factors, in the sleep laboratory, show a significant decrease in their arousal thresholds, as measured by auditory challenges. A preexisting immaturity in arousability, potentiated by environmental factors, expose an infant to major life-threatening events during sleep.