title: Four unusual cases of sudden and unexpected cardiovascular death in infancy and childhood.
abstract: Four unusual cases of sudden and unexpected cardiovascular death in infancy and early childhood that were found during a ten-year autopsy review at our institutions are presented. In Case 1, an asymptomatic 2-year-old male, sudden death resulted from an acute myocardial infarct due to occlusion of coronary arteries that had been previously damaged by unsuspected arteritis. Case 2, a previously well 7-month-old male, died from an acute myocardial infarct due to an unsuspected anomalous origin of the coronary arteries from a single, stenotic coronary ostium. Case 3, a previously well 21-month-old black male, died from a splenic sequestration crisis due to undiagnosed sickle cell disease. Case 4, a 2-month-old female with suspected Marfan syndrome, died from a ruptured dissecting aneurysm of a patent ductus arteriosus. Accuracy of diagnosis was of particular importance in the latter two cases because of the possible genetic implications.
authors.affiliation: Department of Histopathology, Adelaide Children's Hospital, Australia.
authors.forename: R W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Byard
authors.forename: C L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Jimenez
authors.forename: B F
authors.initials: BF
authors.lastname: Carpenter
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Cutz
authors.forename: C R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Smith
mesh_terms: D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003645:Death, Sudden / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006323:Heart Arrest / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male