VASCULAR CAUSES OF SUDDEN-DEATH IN INFANCY, CHILDHOOD, AND ADOLESCENCE

Vascular causes of sudden death in infancy, childhood, and adolescence range from primary disorders of the vasculature involving structural compromise, as in anomalous coronary arteries, to vascular problems th at may arise as secondary phenomena, such as the infectious arteritide s. The etiology of the underlying condition may be understood, as in f atal pulmonary thromboembolism, or it may be shrouded in mystery, as i n idiopathic arterial calcinosis. The absence of a clinical history in dicating an underlying vascular problem in a number of disorders that may cause sudden childhood death underlines the importance of a meticu lous autopsy examination in such cases.