SIDS is a diagnosis of exclusion and should be applied to only those cases in which an infants death is sudden and unexpected, and remains unexplained after the performance of an adequate postmortem investigation, including:

an autopsy (by an experienced pediatric pathologist, if possible);
investigation of the death scene and circumstances of the death; and
exploration of the medical history of the infant and family.After investigation, some of these infant deaths are found to be caused by suffocation, hyperthermia or hypothermia, neglect or some other defined cause.Australia and New Zealand shifted to sudden unexpected death in infancy (SUDI) for professional, scientific, and coronial clarity. The term SUDI is now often used instead of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) because some coroners prefer to use the term undetermined for a death previously considered to be SIDS. This change is causing diagnostic shift in the mortality data. In addition, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have proposed that such deaths be called sudden unexpected infant deaths (SUID) and that SIDS is a subset of SUID. Age
SIDS has a four-parameter lognormal age distribution that spares infants shortly after birth — the time of maximal risk for almost all other causes of non-trauma infant death. By definition, SIDS deaths occur under the age of one year, with the peak incidence occurring when the infant is two to four months old. This is considered a critical period because the infants ability to rouse from sleep is not yet mature. Risk factors
The exact cause of SIDS is unknown.
Purpura fulminans may also lead to severe large vessel venous thrombosis if untreated in its early stages.Purpura fulminans secondary to severe infection is self-limiting. In cases of homozygous protein C deficiency, episodes of purpura fulminans and other thrombotic events are recurrent. Moreover, infant survival due to maintenance replacement therapy is often associated with intellectual disability or visual impairment. For post-infection purpura fulminans, new lesions will occur while neutralising autoantibodies are present (1–2 weeks after presentation).A multi-disciplinary care team is usually required for rehabilitation after purpura fulminans. Epidemiology
Purpura fulminans is rare and most commonly occurs in babies and small children but can also be a rare manifestation in adults when it is associated with severe infections. For example, Meningococcal septicaemia is complicated by purpura fulminans in 10–20% of cases among children. Purpura fulminans associated with congenital (inherited) protein C deficiency occurs in 1:500,000–1,000,000 live births. Research
Due to the rarity of purpura fulminans and its occurrence in vulnerable patient groups like children research on the condition is very limited and evidence based knowledge is scarce. History
Purpura fulminans was first described by Guelliot in 1884. References
External links
Medscape: Purpura Fulminans