MORPHOLOGY, IMMUNOHISTOCHEMISTRY AND MORPHOMETRY OF PANCREATIC-ISLETSIN CASES OF SUDDEN-INFANT-DEATH-SYNDROME (SIDS)

The pancreatic islets from 112 infants (66 males and 46 females) who d ied of SIDS during the years 1990-1992 have been studied. The control group consisted of endocrine pancreas tissue from 19 infants who died of a clear cause of death (pneumonia, drowning, sepsis, etc.). The mea n age of the SIDS group was 5.1 months. We found histologically normal ly developed organs in all the SIDS cases. By evaluating the relative endocrine cell area of the pancreas by immunohistochemical investigati ons, A-cells were found to make up 10-30%, B-cells 30-60%, D-cells 10- 30% and pancreatic polypeptide cells less than 10% in the SIDS group a nd in the controls with a small increase in glucagon and insulin cells among SIDS cases. The morphometric evaluation revealed that cell enla rgement and cytoplasm shrinking occurred slightly more often in the SI DS group than in the control group. The diameter of the islets was nor mal and the maximal volume was not enlarged. The results did not show significant differences so that a relationship between alterations of the endocrine pancreas and sudden infant death syndrome could not be d emonstrated.