Accepted in revised form 12 October 2001; recieved 28 August 2001.
Many issues on sleep disordered breathing (SDB) in children remain to be elucidated. This study summarized polysomnographic data on far-east Asian child patients with suspected SDB. We analyzed labor breathing index (LBI), the desaturation time (DT), SaO2 nadir, and obstructive apnea index (OAI) on a single night polysomnography.
Eighty-four initial recordings obtained in 84 children (mean age, 64.3 months; rang, 5-196) before adenotonsillectomy were divided into two groups according to their age at 40 months; the younger (n=17) and older (n=67) groups. OAI in the older group showed moderately elevated coefficients of correlation in absolute values with DT, SaO2 nadir, and LBIs. In contrast, OAI in the younger group showed high absolute values of correlation coefficients with SaO2 nadir, and LBIs, and revealed a very low correlation coefficient with DT. SaO2 nadir was often recorded during REMS, and a median OAI value was higher during rapid eye movement sleep (REMS) than during non-REMS. In eight pairs of records obtained before and after the adenotonsillectomy, not all parameters were changed into better values, although clinical improvement was obvious in all patients after the surgery.
Forty months of age is a key age to consider the pathophysiology of SDB in children. SDB in children is a REMS-related disease. We have to pay more attention to SDB in children and have to treat them in order to secure their healthy lives in future.
Key Words: Sleep disordered breathing, Children, Rapid eye movement sleep, Labor breathing index
Correspondence: Kohyama Jun, PhD.,
Division of Human Ontogeny and Childhood Development,
Graduate School, Tokio Medical and Dental University,
1-5-45, Yushima, Tokio, 113-8519, Japan.
E-mail: jkohyama.ped@tmd.ac.jp