ISSN: 0022-1198
CODEN: JFSCA
Published Online: 10 March 2004
Page Count: 11

Fifteen-Year Retrospective Study of Infant Organ Weights and Revision of Standard Weight Tables
Cohle, SD
Forensic Pathology, Spectrum-Blodgett Campus, MI

Thompson, WS
Ottawa County Medical Examiner's Office, MI

(Received 25 August 2003; accepted 17 January 2004)

Abstract

No recent studies of organ weights of normal infants exist. We completed a 15-year retrospective study of organ weights of normal infants who died between 1986 and 2000 in an effort to update the “normal” weight standards for infants up to one year of age. Additionally, we compared organ weights of infants whose deaths were ruled Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) with those of other natural or non-natural causes within the same age groups, length and total body weight at autopsy, total organ weight as a percentage of total body weight, and with weight standards based on previous studies. This study included 453 autopsied infants in Kent County, Michigan, and who were referred to our facility by surrounding counties. All subjects were autopsied at Spectrum Health Blodgett Campus in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Keywords:
forensic science, infant, organ weights, sudden infant death syndrome, autopsy

Paper ID: JFS2003288
DOI: 10.1520/JFS2003288
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