Successful treatment of fetal atrial flutter and congestive heart failure

deaths from infection (Table 3) be classified as inexplicable. Thus by the definition of Stanton and Oakley,3 among the 837 sudden postneonatal deaths in this series, 739 would be cot deaths of which only 62% were histologically unexplained. Fear of cot death haunts many young parents. Inflated numbers of cot deaths do not ease their anxiety. Misdiagnosis also hinders attempts to understand aetiological mechanisms. Published reports on the sudden infant death syndrome are confused by variations in definition. Meningococcaemia and leukaemia may both present with purpura but this does not mean that they share a common aetiology, and considering them as the same can only confuse.