Infants suffering from an ALTE in the first week of life did not suffer any recurrence of the event during approximately four months of monitoring. Seventy-seven infants (BW 3252 +/- 617 g, GA 38.4 +/- 2.0 wks) presented at 3.9 +/- 1.8 days with the following symptoms: cyanosis in 88%, apnea in 32%, choking in 6%, redness in 6%, pallor in 5%, limpness in 3%, and stiffness in 1%. The need for intervention, ranging from tactile stimulation to cardiopulmonary resuscitation occurred in 14%.

Initial cardiorespiratory evaluation within 24 hours of the episode was abnormal in 55 (71%), with no differences in this group and those with normal evaluations with respect to BW, GA, Apgar scores, and age and symptoms of ALTE presentation. All infants were discharged home on documented monitors. Subsequent cardiorespiratory examination in one month showed 39 (50%) of the infants to have these abnormalities, which included pathologic apnea, bradycardia, excessive periodic breathing, reflux, and desaturations. Correlation analyses showed no relationships between age and symptoms at presentation, age and testing results, birth weight and age of presentation, or results of initial and subsequent testing.

Infant were monitored for 132 +/- 59 days. No infant had a subsequent ALTE and no infant died of SIDS. ALTE in the first week of life may represent a transitional event associated with a favorable outcome, and home monitoring of these infants may be unnecessary.