Thyroid hormones in the sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)

Results are presented of serum total T4, T3, and TSH measurements on 92 patients. There are 34 infants exhibiting the sudden infant death syndrome, 36 in control group 1, who are matched both for age of infant and for duration of storage of specimen, and 22 post-mortem sera from non-SIDS deaths. There is no significant difference between the groups for total T4 measurements, but there is a highly significant elevation of both total serum T3 and TSH in the SIDS group compared with control group 1. It is suggested that the TSH elevation may be due to a post-mortem effect, but the T3 results appear to confirm and extend the recent publication of Chacon et al [1]. Evidence of one case of a near-SID that subsequently died is presented, demonstrating that disturbances of thyroid function tests occurred in this patient before death.