PEDIATRICS Vol. 44 No. 2 August 1969, pp. 225-233
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow P3Rs: Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when P3Rs are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow E-mail this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My File Cabinet
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via CrossRef
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Ellis, H. A.
Right arrow Articles by Knight, B.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Ellis, H. A.
Right arrow Articles by Knight, B.

PARATHYROIDS AND CERVICAL THYMUS IN SUDDEN UNEXPECTED DEATH IN INFANCY

H. A. Ellis M.D., Ph.D., M.C.Path.1 and B. Knight M.D., D.M.J.(Path.), M.C.Path.1

1 Department of Pathology, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, England

It has recently been claimed that there is a reduction in the number of parathyroid glands and abnormal fusion of parathyroid and thymic tissues in the sudden unexpected death (SUD) syndrome in infancy. In the present study, the parathyroid glands and thymus were dissected under the stereomicroscope at autopsy in 55 infants, including 31 with features of SUD. The identity of the glands was confirmed histologically.

Parathyroid glands were identified in comparable numbers and sites in infants dying with the SUD syndrome or from some ascertainable cause. Cervical thymic tissue was commonly found in infants, whatever the cause of death, and fusion of parathyroid and thymic tissues was not confined to the SUD syndrome.

The study provides no evidence to support the claim that there is a deficiency of parathyroid glands in the SUD syndrome or that fusion of thymic and parathyroid tissues normally does not occur.

Submitted on February 27, 1969
Accepted on March 31, 1969