Apparent Life-Threatening Event (ALTE) was a term proposed to distinguish a “near miss” from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).
The term ALTE has been supplanted by Brief Resolved Unexplained Events (BRUE).
Patient selection: usually an infant
Criteria for an ALTE:
(1) an episode that is frightening to the observer (typically a parent or guardian)
(2) presence of one or more of the following:
(2a) apnea (central or obstructive)
(2b) color change (cyanotic, pallid, erythematous, plethoric)
(2c) marked change in muscle tone (hypotonia or less often hypertonia)
(2d) choking
(2e) gagging
(2f) death-like appearance
