Sudden infant death and acute posterior lingual inflammation

A case is described of sudden and unexpected death in a 5-month-old boy who was found to have acute inflammation with multifocal abscess formation at the base of his tongue adjacent to the epiglottis. The case demonstrates the vulnerability of the upper aerodigestive tract in infancy to possible anatomic or functional obstruction from intrinsic lesions and draws attention to the potentially lethal effects of critically-placed posterior lingual inflammation.