title: Previous breastfeeding does not alter thymic size in infants dying of sudden infant death syndrome.
abstract: The relationship between thymic weights and previous feeding histories was examined in 294 infants of 37 wk gestation or more dying of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). One hundred and sixty-five infants had been breastfed exclusively, 89 had been partially breastfed and 40 had never been breastfed. We found no relationship between thymic weight and type of previous feeding. The difference between these findings in SIDS and the substantially greater thymic size previously reported in 4-mo-old breastfed living infants deserves further study.
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics, University of Auckland School of Medicine, New Zealand.
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Thompson
authors.forename: D M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Becroft
authors.forename: E A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Mitchell
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D001344:Autopsy; D001724:Birth Weight; D001827:Body Height; D001835:Body Weight; D001942:Breast Feeding; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007225:Infant Food; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D009929:Organ Size; D012307:Risk Factors; D013398:Sudden Infant Death / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology*; D013950:Thymus Gland / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology