[Changes in the cardiovascular chemo-baroreceptors as a possible basis for sudden infant death (SIDS)]

A male sixty days old infant, dying suddenly, has been diagnosed as sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Autopsy visualized plurifocal haematic suffusions, typical for an asphyxial status. Abnormalities were not found in the conduction system, but aorticopulmonary paraganglia hyperplasia with mild inflammatory characters has been noted. The role of aorticopulmonary paraganglia, as baro-chemoreceptors, in the cardiovascular regulation, has been anatomical substrate for explaining a sudden infant death, according to a multifactorial theory of SIDS.