The Prevalence of Central Apnea in High Risk Sids Infants

Abstract □ 8

Data was collected retrospectively on 733 infants identified epidemiologically as at high risk for SIDS: 1) siblings of SIDS victims (SibSIDS N=215), 2) ALTEs at home (ALTE N=237), and 3) premature infants with a history of apnea or bradycardia in the newborn nursery (Premie Apnea N=281). The objectives of this retrospective study were to determine: a) the prevalence of at least one episode of prolonged central apnea, b) if central apnea prevalence differed by group, and c) the temporal interval of monitoring before an infant=s initial episode of central apnea. All infants were followed at home on a event recording cardiorespiratory monitor. The monitor was set to record any central apnea at least 16 seconds in duration. Episodes were confirmed and measured from recorded waveforms obtained by the home apnea/bradycardia monitor.

Infants were required to have at least 140 hours of monitor use (an average of 5 hours per day) for each of four successive 28 day cycles, with our total observation period being 112 days. If monitor usage was not adequate for a 28 day cycle, subjects were excluded from further analysis and observation was considered terminated at the end of the preceding 28 day cycle. A survival analysis was used to accommodate the censoring of infants due to inadequate monitor compliance. The following estimates of central apnea prevalence were obtained for 112 days of observation. (Table)

Table 1