Prolongation of the Q-T interval in a victim of sudden infant death syndrome: cause or effect?
A 3-week-old infant died of sudden infant death syndrome (crib death, cot death). Although prolongation of the Q-T interval was found on an electrocardiogram taken at birth, this child appeared to have died of terminal respiratory failure as judged by a postmortem arterial oxygen tension of 4 mm Hg. The heart showed right ventricular hypertrophy, a finding consistent with chronic hypoxemia. The prolongation of the Q-T interval may have contributed to the death of this child with hypoxia predisposing to a fatal episode of ventricular fibrillation.
D006332:Cardiomegaly / Q000150:complications; D004562:Electrocardiography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D000860:Hypoxia / Q000150:complications; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007232:Infant, Newborn, Diseases; D013398:Sudden Infant Death / Q000209:etiology