Cerebral tissue oxygenation index and SIDS.

In this issue of Pediatrics, Fyfe et al present convincing evidence that cerebral tissue oxygenation index (TOI) is lower in habitually supinesleeping preterm infants placed prone rather than supine, and that the cerebral TOI for preterm infants placed prone is lower than the TOI for term infants placed prone. Increased rates of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) among all infants sleeping prone, and even higher rates among preterm infants placed prone, provide the epidemiologic rationale for their physiologic studies.