A New Definition Different from the Term Apparent Life-Threatening Event: Brief Resolved Unexplained Event

cocukacil-5-1-2024

Özlem TEKŞAMa

aHacettepe University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Pediatric Emergency Medicine, Ankara, Türkiye

ABSTRACT
An apparent life-threatening event (ALTE) is defined as ”an episode that is frightening to the observer and is characterized by some combination of apnea, color change, marked change of muscle tone, choking, or gagging.” This definition cause frequently a diagnostic challenge to the physicians, because the infant is often asymptomatic at presentation. Generally physicians perform more tests or hospitalize patients. All these approaches can cause the patient to unnecessary risk and increase parental anxiety without improving outcomes. Therefore, a brief resolved unexplained event (BRUE) was described recently. With this new definition, a more homogenous patient population is created, and risk stratification and guide management recommendations as lower and higher-risk BRUE for physicians are provided. This guideline is intended to reduce unnecessary medical interventions and laboratory investigations and improve patient outcomes with patient and family-centered care, especially in low-risk patients.
Keywords: Apparent life-threatening event; brief resolved unexplained event; risk stratification; infant; etiology

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