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Detection of Apneas in Infants During Sleep:A Study Comparing Thoracic Impedance andInductive Plethysmography
Thomas Erler, M.D., Jörg Oehlschläger, M.D., and Esther Wischniewski, M.D.
To compare the reliability of two techniques (thoracic impedance and inductive plethys-
mography)commonly used to assess respiratory move-ments in infancy.Whole night
polysomnographic studies were performed in 52 infants (30 females,22 males,median
postnatal age 15.1 weeks)with simultaneous recordings of respiratory movements by tho-
racic impedance (TI)and inductive plethysmography (IP),of oxygen saturation,transcuta-
neous and endexpiratory CO2,ECG,EEG,EMG,EOG,and actimetry.Each test was divid-
ed into 10-minute intervals for statistical evaluation.After manual evaluation of all respirato-
ry events shown,occurrence rates of false positive and false negative apnea detection by
each system were compared.Median apnea frequency was 19.1 per hour of total sleep
time (predominantly central apnea with a significant drop after the first trimenon).The
99.5%of all apneas were correctly detected by IP,98.9%by TI (difference not significant).
There were considerably more false positive results of IP than of TI recordings (in 7.9 %vs.
4.4%of all 10-minute time periods).Both thoracic impedance and inductive plethysmog-
raphy are suitable for monitoring of respiratory movement in infancy.We recommend TI for
surveillance of high-risk patients,while IP remains a suitable screening method.
Simultaneous use of both methods may assist to solve differential diagnostic problems in
the pediatric sleep laboratory.(Sleep and Hypnosis 2001;3(2):62-67)
| Keywords: polysomnography, respiratory movement, thoracic impedance, inductiveplethysmography, reliability, sudden infant death |
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