在美国,婴儿猝死仍然是儿童死亡的常见原因,人们对此知之甚少。小儿心脏肿瘤,虽然罕见,可能是一些原因不明的婴儿猝死的基础。尸检是这些病例的关键诊断步骤,因为心脏的肉眼和显微镜检查都可能发现隐匿性心脏肿瘤。横纹肌瘤是儿童时期最常见的心脏肿瘤,可导致心律失常和猝死。我们介绍了一个健康的5个月大婴儿的猝死病例,该婴儿最初出现“SIDS样”,直到彻底的组织学分析显示潜在的心脏横纹肌瘤。这种情况特别重要,因为心脏的粗略检查被认为是完全正常的,肿瘤只在显微镜下累及心脏的某些部分。如果单个随机的心肌切片是唯一通过显微镜检查的心脏切片,可能漏诊了.这个案例强调了在婴儿病例中进行彻底显微镜检查的重要性,尤其是在心脏看起来非常正常的情况下。
Sudden death in infants remains a common and poorly understood cause of childhood mortality in the USA. Pediatric cardiac tumors, although rare, may underlie some cases of unexplained sudden infant death. Autopsy is a crucial diagnostic step in these cases, as both gross and microscopic examination of the heart may uncover occult cardiac tumors. Rhabdomyomas are the most common cardiac tumors in childhood and may result in arrythmia and sudden death. We present a case of sudden death in a healthy 5-month-old infant which initially appeared \"SIDS-like\" until thorough histological analysis revealed an underlying cardiac
rhabdomyoma. The case is of particular importance in that the gross examination of the heart was considered completely normal, and the tumor only involved certain portions of the heart microscopically. Had a single random section of myocardium been the only heart section examined microscopically, the diagnosis might have been missed. This case emphasizes the importance of thorough microscopic examination in infant cases, especially in cases where the heart appears grossly normal.