Sudden Unexpected Death in Infancy: Advances in Diagnostics and Multidisciplinary Investigation
A special issue of Diagnostics (ISSN 2075-4418). This special issue belongs to the section "Clinical Diagnosis and Prognosis".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 January 2027 | Viewed by 693
Editor
Interests: sudden unexpected death in infancy (SUDI); sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS); post‑mortem diagnostics; multidisciplinary investigation; medicolegal assessment
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Sudden unexpected death in infancy (SUDI) refers to the sudden and unforeseen death of an infant under one year of age, where the cause is not immediately evident. This category includes both explained deaths and unexplained cases, such as sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and fatal sleep accidents. Despite improvements in perinatal care and public health initiatives, SUDI remains a significant contributor to post‑neonatal mortality in high‑income countries and continues to present complex diagnostic and medicolegal challenges. This Special Issue of Diagnostics aims to provide a multidisciplinary platform for advancing the understanding and investigation of SUDI. We invite contributions from fields including pathology, pediatrics, genetics, neuropathology, and forensic medicine. Emphasis is placed on standardized post‑mortem protocols—including complete autopsy, death‑scene investigation, and clinical history review—as well as ancillary diagnostics such as microbiology, toxicology, metabolic screening, and genetic testing. We particularly welcome studies that explore underlying pathogenetic mechanisms, identify novel biomarkers or genetic variants, refine phenotypic classifications, or propose risk‑stratification tools. Submissions may include original research, case series, single‑case reports with innovative diagnostic approaches, and systematic or narrative reviews that synthesize current evidence and identify future research priorities. By bringing together diverse diagnostic perspectives, this Special Issue seeks to enhance the accuracy and consistency of SUDI classification, support evidence‑based prevention and family counseling, and strengthen medicolegal assessments—including the critical differentiation between natural and unnatural causes of death.
Dr. Maria P. Bonasoni
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Diagnostics is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- sudden unexpected death in infancy (SUDI)
- sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)
- post‑mortem diagnostics
- multidisciplinary investigation
- medicolegal assessment
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