Did this father's sleep apnea contribute to the inadvertent death of his infant son?
Sleepiness impairs memory and concentration. We report a case of a patient who inadvertently left his infant son in a car, having forgotten to drop him off at day care. The infant died of heat exposure. There is credible evidence that sleepiness from a combination of sleep deprivation and previously undiagnosed severe obstructive sleep apnea contributed to this tragedy.
Mahowald
Mark W
MW
Minnesota Regional Sleep Disorders Center, Hennepin County Medical Center, and Department of Neurology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, 55145, USA. mahow002@tc.umn.edu
Cramer-Bornemann
Michel
M
Hannon
Holly
H
Janjua
Tariq
T
Ullevig
Constance
C
Patterson
Andrea
A