Cot Deaths and Malnutrition: The Role of Dehydration

Abstract

In a series of 54 cases of sudden death in infancy, the cerebrospinal fluid urea was raised in 52 cases. It is proposed that dehydration is a significant factor in most of these cases of sudden unexpected deaths in infancy. The suggested biochemical mechanism is a rapid development of acute-on-chronic dehydration when infection supervenes.