Abstract
Periodic breathing in infancy represents immaturity of respiratory control commonly associated with prolonged apnea. It is therefore important to assess which infants appear to be at greatest risk with periodic breathing and the age at which periodic breathing resolves. To examine these issues, 61 infants (38 pre-term, 23 term) were initially assessed with thermistor-pneumocardiograms and found to have excessive periodic breathing for age. Periodic breathing was defined as respiration < 20 seconds duration, separated by periods of apnea of < 10 seconds duration occurring at least three times in succession. All infants in this study demonstrated periodic breathing >5% of sleep time. The 61 children were prospectively followed with pneumocardiograms every 6-8 weeks. Mean GA was 34.4 ± 0.6 SEM wks. All children had apnea, cyanosis, or brady-cardia that prompted initial evaluation. Twenty-nine (47.5%) had 5-10% of sleep in periodic breathing, 24 (39.3%) had 10-20% of sleep in periodic breathing, and 8 (13.1%) had more than 20% of sleep in periodic breathing. Forty-nine (83.5%) resolved their periodic breathing (< 5% of sleep) by 5 months post-natal age. Fifty-nine (96.7%) had normal sleep studies by 9 months of age. No infant demonstrated periodic breathing beyond 10 months of age. Infants with 5-10%, 10-20% and greater than 20% of sleep in periodic breathing showed no differences in the time it took to resolve their periodic breathing. These results suggest that most (83.5%) of infants resolve their periodic breathing by five months of age. The degree of initial periodic breathing does not influence the age at which this respiratory pattern resolves.
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Spitzer, A., Williams, J., Juliano, P. et al. NATURAL HISTORY OF PERIODIC BREATHING IN TERM AND PRETERM INFANTS. Pediatr Res 18 (Suppl 4), 349 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198404001-01538
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198404001-01538