The SUDC Medical / Investigational Advisory Board offer the below recommendations when completing Death Certificates in cases of Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood (older than 12 months of age). Resources, such as the National Association of Medical Examiner's guidelines for investigating SUID were utilized for their creation.
If a properly conducted investigation and autopsy discloses a lack of findings, we recommend reporting the cause of death in Part I of the cause-of-death statement on the Death Certificate as:
- Part I- COD: SUDC or undetermined (Both will most likely receive ICD-10 code of R-99 for "other ill-defined unspecified causes of mortality". However the use of "SUDC" infers an unexplained thorough investigation, whereas "undetermined" can infer many scenarios including an incomplete or supicious investigation.)
We recommend the following for subsequent sections of the Death Certificate:
- Part II- Other Significant Conditions (if applicable):
Example: History of febrile seizures (if known, include lifetime quantity and date of last FS)
- Manner Of Death: Undetermined (or natural depending on comfort of pathologist)
- "Describe How Injury Occurred" box: If nothing concerning in the history, scene, autopsy, records, etc. then include "No injuries or other external stressors identified after complete autopsy and investigation."
Thomas A. Andrew, MD
Office of the Chief Medical Examiner
Concord, NH
Andrew M. Baker, MD
Chief Medical Examiner
Hennepin County Medical Examiner's Office
Minneapolis, MN
Professor Roger Byard MD
The University of Adelaide
Adelaide, Australia
James Claude Upshaw "Jamie" Downs, MD
Georgia Bureau of Investigation
Savannah, GA
John Fudenberg
Assistant Coroner
Clark County office of the Coroner/Medical Examiner
Las Vegas, NV
Kelly C. Lear-Kaul, MD
Forensic Pathologist
Arapahoe County Coroner's Office
Centennial, CO