The emergency services are regularly confronted with a report of a child’s condition that is perceived as threatening, from which nothing clear can be derived anamnestically – and the young patient again presents completely unrestricted. Nevertheless, an assessment by a pediatrician is always necessary. The former term “apparent life threatening event” (ALTE) has been replaced by the term “brief resolved unexplained event” (BRUE). This new nomenclature was chosen to include episodes that are not perceived as life-threatening. Apart from this, however, it continues to define a state that is associated with a change

• of the muscle tone,
• skin color,
• the level of alertness and/or
• the breathing

has gone hand in hand. Only if a thorough medical history and pediatric examination reveal no further abnormalities may a working diagnosis of BRUE be made.

Be sure to present at the pediatric clinic

Colloquially, the term “state of emergency” is often used. Basically, such conditions have a variety of possible causes, including gastroesophageal reflux, seizures and upper respiratory tract infections. Cardiopulmonary causes, on the other hand, are very rare. The decisive factor in the guideline-compliant treatment of such a BRUE is the presentation of the child by the emergency services to a specialist in pediatric and adolescent medicine in a pediatric clinic [1]. This may then determine further investigations. After a thorough pediatric history and examination, however, immediate discharge from the clinic may even be justified.