A. Teivens et al., ENAMEL INCREMENTAL LINES AS RECORDERS FOR DISEASE IN INFANCY AND THEIR RELATION TO THE DIAGNOSIS OF SIDS, Forensic science international, 81(2-3), 1996, pp. 175-183
The sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is a major diagnosis of post-n
eonatal mortality in the industrialised countries. The cause of death
is, however, still elusive. The development of complementary diagnosti
c methods widening the possibility to analyse the postmortem findings
is therefore important. The aim of this study was to histologically ex
amine the enamel of teeth from children dying suddenly and unexpectedl
y in order to disclose if the presence of enamel disturbances correspo
nded to neo- or postnatal disorders. During enamel formation ameloblas
ts are susceptible to local and systemic disturbances which may be ref
lected in the fully formed enamel as hypoplasia, hypocalcification or
accentuated incremental lints. Nineteen consecutive cases of deaths in
infants between 1-19 months of age were investigated at the Departmen
t of Forensic Pathology, Stockholm, Sweden. The analyses of anamnestic
and postmortem data and the analyses of incremental lines were done i
ndependently without knowledge of the conclusion of the other part. Th
e results show a good agreement between enamel changes on one hand and
the antemortem history and the autopsy findings on the other. This ty
pe of investigation may be a valuable complement to the ordinary postm
ortem investigations of a child who has suddenly and unexpectedly died
.