Abstract
Sleep and waking were studied in normal term and normal and apneic premature infants at 44 wks post-conceptual age. Percentages of active sleep (AS), quiet sleep (QS) and wakefulness (AW) were determined from polygraphic tracings obtained between 6-10 p.m. Term infants were selected by absence of disease and gestational age between 38-42 wks. Normal prematures were selected by absence of disease between 32 and 36 wks post-conceptual age. Apneic prematures were similar, except they had 2 or more apneic episodes ≥ 20 sec. within an 8 hour period after the first week of life for which no etiology could be found.
In normal prematures total sleep time was decreased at the expense of AS, and wakefulness was increased. Apneic prematures were not different from normal term infants. Since QS was similar in all groups, maturation of the forebrain does not appear to be delayed. The data suggest a lower threshold for arousal in the normal premature. Stress produced by apnea in the premature infant appeared to accelerate development toward normal term patterns rather than to cause a delay.
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Hoppenbrouwers, T., Hodqman, J., Arakawa, K. et al. ARE SLEEP STATES INFLUENCED BY APNEA AND PREMATURITY. Pediatr Res 18 (Suppl 4), 139 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198404001-00278
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198404001-00278