Autopsy practices in case of sudden infant death syndrome in the French-speaking community of Belgium, and a comparison with other European countries.

This work summarises the current difficulties encountered in performing aut opsies in cases of sudden unexplained infant deaths in Belgium. Over the la st few years, the incidence of postneonatal deaths in most European countri es has significantly decreased, probably due to prevention campaigns. Howev er, there are still many difficulties encountered in systematically includi ng autopsies in the general strategy for managing this public health proble m. The analysis of autopsy practices in Belgium in cases of unexplained inf ants' deaths and their comparison with other European countries' practices give us the opportunity to propose changes in order to improve policies and the overall understanding of these unexplained deaths. (C) 2000 Editions s cientifiques ef medicales Elsevier SAS.