Infant deaths due to unintentional injury. An 11-year autopsy review.
OBJECTIVE
The number and causes of unintentional infant deaths were determined to identify common, preventable infant deaths.


METHODS
Retrospective autopsy review.


METHODS
Infants aged 1 day to 1 year undergoing complete autopsies.


METHODS
Autopsies performed by the Louisville Office of the Kentucky Medical Examiner's Program from 1979 through 1989.


METHODS
The manner of death was designated as an "accident" based on review of autopsy findings, scene investigation, and investigation by law enforcement officials. The cases were divided into groups based on the nature of the unintentional injury.


RESULTS
Causes of death included asphyxia in mechanically unsafe sleeping environments, overlying, drowning, scald burns, plastic bag suffocation, house fires, motor vehicle collisions, aspiration of foreign bodies, hypothermia, blunt head trauma, and alcohol toxicity. The largest group of deaths in this series resulted from mechanically unsafe sleeping environments.


CONCLUSIONS
The majority of deaths in this series could have been prevented by minor changes in the household environment. The causes of fatal unintentional injury to infants are different from those in older children. Pediatricians should be aware of hazards unique to this age group.
Corey
T S
TS
Department of Pathology, University of Louisville School of Medicine, KY.
McCloud
L C
LC
Nichols
G R
GR
Buchino
J J
JJ
D001344:Autopsy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002423:Cause of Death; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007226:Infant Mortality; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007629:Kentucky; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality*