EDITOR—In their short report on facial structure in infants who died of the sudden infant death syndrome Rees et al evaluated the role of retroposition of maxillae and mandibles in predisposing to narrowing and occlusion of the upper airway in the sudden infant death syndrome.1

Their hypothesis assumes that maxillary, mandibular, or bimaxillary retroposition reduces the nasopharyngeal airway. This may seem logical, but a range of congenital syndromes exhibit maxillary hypoplasia, such as Binder's syndrome (maxillonasal dysplasia), in which a reduced nasopharyngeal airway …