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To determine whether significant historical differences distinguish the near-miss for Sudden Infant Death from the infants who died of SIDS, we analysed the histories and clinical data from two groups of infants seen in our University Hospital and from collaborative research group. The data were obtained with the use of a standardised questionnaire and consultation of all available medical data. Sixty-five infants were identified as near-miss for SIDS after they had suffered a severe cardiorespiratory incident during sleep for which no cause could be found despite a complete medical examination. After an autopsy had failed to reveal a cause for the unexpected death 95 cases of SIDS were retained in the study. A series of 353 variables were collected from the parents, the gynaecologists, neonatologists and attending physicians. After statistical analysis, only 15 of the 353 items studied significantly differentiated between the two groups. A step-wise discriminant analysis performed on these items led to the identification of six independent variables: the time of the incident; the circumstances leading to the observation of the child; the child's sleep position; previous minor intestinal problems; the size of the family and the mother's coffee consumption. Most variables indicate that the near-miss infants were discovered and rescued earlier than the infants who died. No other historical information appeared significantly to differentiate between the two groups of infants. These data need confirmation from a prospective epidemiological survey.

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Summary: Automatic sleep EEG analysis was performed on infants from 2 to 11 months of age. Partial power spectra of 1>, e, Ct, and 131 bands were studied as function of sleep stages, age, and time of the night. 131' Ct, and 1> power spectra are significantly lower in paradoxical sleep (PS) than in quiet sleep (QS) whatever the age; but theta is lower in PS than in QS only after 5 months of age. 1>, e, and Ct power increase with age in QS. Only 1> and e are greater in the first half of the night than in the second half. 131 power does not differ significantly in stages 2 and 3 of QS, during the course of the night or as a function of age. Thus 1>, e, Ct may be the best spectral parameters for the maturation of quiet sleep EEGs during the first year of life. Key Words: Automatic analysis-Sleep EEG-Infants.We have previously developed and reported a system of automatic computerized analysis of sleep in infants (1,2), which is valid for full-term infants aged 2-11 months. U sing data from these subjects we studied the development of different EEG frequency bands as a function of sleep stage and course of the night during the first year of life. SUBJECTS AND METHODSTwenty infants younger than 5 months of age and 23 infants aged 5 -11 months were recorded during sleep (Table O. The younger group was recorded during the day (morning sleep), the older group during the first half of the night. Eighteen other infants aged 3-11 months had all-night recordings. These 61 full-term infants were either control subjects, with no serious neurological or medical pathology, receiving no medication, or siblings of infants who had died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). Sterman et aI. (3) have found only a few minor differences in SIDS siblings as compared with normal subjects at 4 and 8 weeks of age. All of the infants in our study were older than 8 weeks of age, and no differences were found by Sterman et al. in these older babies. Data from the 18 children who had full-night recordings were used for a com-

Four cases of periventricular ischemia without hemorrhage in premature infants are described in which positive rolandic sharp waves (PRSW) were predominant in the electroencephalogram (EEG). These findings suggest the relationship of PRSW to periventricular ischemia rather than to intraventricular hemorrhage, per se, as has been considered by most investigations in the past. These PRSW can provide an early indication of periventricular leukomalacia.