Narrowed Artery May Contribute to SIDS

Some babies sleeping on their stomachs are able to turn their heads so far to the side that they can decrease blood flow in their vertebral arteries, affecting blood circulation in the brain and perhaps contributing to sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). This was the finding of a study presented at the annual meeting of the American Roentgen Ray Society in Atlanta (GA, USA).

Researchers at the University of Vienna (Austria) examined the blood flow in the vertebral arteries of 12 infants, six who had died of SIDS, four from trauma, and two from heart disease. They wanted to determine whether narrowing of the arteries resulted as a result of the infants turning their heads one way or the other or extending their neck.
They found that 71% of the children diagnosed with SIDS and 29% of the other infants had narrowed vertebral arteries when they were placed on their stomachs and their necks were rotated to the left or right. Half of both groups had compressed arteries when their necks were rotated and extended.

"This study suggests that narrowing of the vertebral artery could be a factor in SIDS,” said Stefan Puig, M.D., lead researcher. "However, the fact that it was seen in infants who had not died from SIDS indicates that there could be a dangerous inclination toward vertebral artery compression for any infant sleeping on the stomach.”