Científicos canadienses consideran que los problemas cardíacos pueden desempeñar un papel importante en uno de cada diez casos de muerte súbita infantil, según escriben en "The Journal of Pediatrics".
El síndrome de muerte súbita infantil, recuerdan, es la principal causa de muerte en lactantes de un mes a un año de edad, siendo mayor el riesgo entre los 2 y los 4 meses.
Los autores, del Hospital Infantil de Montreal, revisaron 848 casos en los que se llevó a cabo la autopsia, ocurridos entre 1987 y 1999. Encontraron que 82 de los niños presentaban algún tipo de problema cardíaco, lo que representa aproximadamente el 10% de los casos analizados.
En la mitad de esos 82 casos de muerte existía un defecto estructural del corazón. El resto tenía una estructura normal, pero los niños presentaban alguna enfermedad cardíaca.
"Hemos hallado que la enfermedad cardíaca está presente en un porcentaje significativo de lactantes que han muerto súbita e inesperadamente", concluyen.
Journal of Pediatrics 2002;141:336-342
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Montreal Children Hospital
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