Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, including details on sids, causes, prevention, statistics.

Laryngeal sensitivity in the neonatal period: from bench to bedside.

Reix P, St-Hilaire M, Praud JP

Service de pneumologie, Allergologie, Mucoviscidose, Hôpital Debrousse, Lyon, France.

Laryngeal sensitivity in the newborn has been a subject of great interest for both researchers and clinicians for a number of years. From a clinical standpoint, laryngeal sensitivity is essential for both preventing foreign substances from entering into the lower airway and for finely tuning upper airway resistance. However, heightened reflexes originating from the laryngeal receptors in newborns and infants, due to neural immaturity, can lead to potentially dangerous cardiorespiratory events. The latter have been linked to apneas of prematurity, apparent life-threatening events, and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). From a physiological standpoint, many mechanisms pertaining to reflexes originating from laryngeal receptors are yet to be fully understood. This short review is an attempt to summarize current knowledge on laryngeal sensitivity and its potential consequences upon control of breathing abnormalities encountered within the first weeks of life.

Published 4 July 2007 in Pediatr Pulmonol, 42(8): 674-82.
Full-text of this article is available online (may require subscription).

© 2005-2008 Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Research Today. All Rights Reserved.