Substitution therapy of infants for addiction and withdrawal. Possible links to sudden infant death (SID). Literature review and case reports

Infants of mothers addicted to drugs are recognised to have a special risk for SID. The paper elucidates indications and clinical symptoms of different substitution therapies based on a literature review and clarified by case reports. For many infants the therapy has to be carried out during the whole first year of life or even longer. The case reports are focused on a family with drug addiction and affected by SID twice raising the question for respiratory depression due to high drug levels. Regarding this problem the records of a cardiac-respiration-monitor used for the infant who died second are introduced. The records had been made shortly before death and support our interpretation of morphological and toxicological findings.