The lungs of 79 children who had died between the ages of 1 week and 2 years old were histologically examined. 59 of these children could be categorized as cases of Sudden Infant Death because of the history and postmortem findings. In the remaining 20 cases a definite cause of death could be established. This is the same collective on which the histological investigations of the lymphatic tissue has been carried out. Morphological changes which are typical for a virus pneumonia were found in a substantially higher frequency in the cases of Sudden Infant Death than in the control cases. The validity of these findings and their possible significance for the cause of death are discussed.

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The lymphatic tissues (lymph nodes, spleen, thymus) were examined in 79 children who had died between the ages of one week and two years old. 59 of these children could be catagorized as Sudden Infant Death because of their history and postmortem findings. In the remaining 20 cases a definite cause of death could be established. The demonstrated morphological reaction patterns which have different functional significances were differentiated and examined in detail. These revealed a substantial increase in indications of the occurrence of an acute infection in the infant organism in cases of Sudden Infant Death when compared to the control cases. A defect in the immunesystem could not be demonstrated by classical histomorphological methods.