Temporal relationship between pauses in nasal airflow and desaturation in preterm infants

✍ Scribed by S.L. Watkin; S.A. Spencer; A. Pryce; D.P. Southall

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1996
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 400 KB
• Volume: 21
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 8755-6863
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1099-0496(199603)21:3<171::aid-ppul4>3.0.co;2-t

✦ Synopsis

Physiological recordings were undertaken to study the temporal relationship between apnea, defined as pauses in nasal airflow (PNA), and desaturation in preterm infants. Seventeen infants with a history of apnea of prematurity were studied on 21 occasions. Median (range) birthweight was 1,180 g (5752,475) and gestation was 30 weeks (26)(27)(28)(29)(30)(31)(32)(33). Median age at time of study was 10 days (range, 2-52). Arterial beat to beat oxygen saturation (SaO,), photoplethysmographic waveform, electrocardiogram, abdominal and ribcage breathing movements, and nasal airflow were recorded. Falls in SaO, 2 3% occurring during or after a PNA 2 4 seconds were recorded. Episodes of periodic breathing were excluded from this analysis.

Four hundred and sixteen episodes of PNA and desaturation were analyzed. Application of a definition of "outliers" for non-parametric data suggested an association when the desaturation occurred up to 7.20 seconds after the end of the PNA for infants nursed in air. For infants on oxygen treatment, a temporal association was suggested when desaturation occurred up to 9.76 seconds after the end of PNA.