Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) represents a major leading cause of death among all racial and ethnic groups of infants between one month and one year of age. The exact cause of sudden unexpected death is still unclear , but there are multiple possibilities which presumed to explain it, such as : cardiovascular abnormalities, suffocation and infectious diseases . The occurrence of such death is extremely rare particularly in twins .
For the first time in Palestine, we report a case of eight-week-old female twin who were found dead while sleeping on their right side. Their death occurred within 24 hours from each other. Extensive investigations were done, no identifiable cause of death was discovered.
This report demonstrates that low socioeconomic status of the family and unhealthy sleeping environment strongly influenced the sudden death of those  monozygotic twin. 
Keywords: Low socioeconomic status; monozygotic twins; Palestine; sudden infant death syndrome.
 
Abbreviations 
 DPT:  Diphtheria, Pertussis and Tetanus vaccine; Hib: Hemophilus influenzae type B vaccine; LQTS: Long QT syndrome; NICU: Neonatal Intensive Care Unit; OPV: Oral Polio Vaccine; SIDS; Sudden Infant Death Syndrome; SUDI: Sudden Unexpected Death of Infancy.
 
Introduction 
Sudden unexpected infant death (SUID), is a term used to describe any sudden and unexpected death, whether explained or unexplained (including sudden infant death syndrome [SIDS] and ill-defined deaths), occurring during infancy [1]. After case investigation, SUID can be attributed to suffocation, asphyxia, entrapment, infection, ingestions, metabolic diseases, arrhythmia-associated cardiac channelopathies, and trauma (unintentional or nonaccidental) [1]. SIDS is a subcategory of SUID and the term is used in cases of infant deaths that cannot be explained after a thorough investigation, including a scene investigation, autopsy, and review of the clinical history [1]. If the infants are twin and died within one day, the simultaneous definition is used [2]. Environmental factors and heart abnormalities can be some of the contributing factors for certain SIDS cases, for example familial long QT syndrome (LQTS) [3]. Sudden infant death syndrome and unexpected infant deaths are still a public health issue and constitute a major element in the field of forensic medicine investigations [4]. Here, we report a case of sudden death of twin female infants on the same day.

Title

An Najah Journal

Publisher

An-Najah National University

Publisher Country

Palestine

Publication Type

Prtinted only

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Year

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