Polygraphic features of a victim of sudden infant death syndrome and of infants with apparent life-threatening event.
We analyzed a polygram of a victim of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) which had been taken five weeks prior to his death. The findings are discussed in association with the serial polygraphic observations of four infants who had suffered from apparent life-threatening event (ALTE), and twenty neurologically normal infants. Frequencies of respiratory pauses were high in SIDS, and average durations of respiratory pauses showed higher values in ALTE than in the controls. Normal paradoxical motions between chest and abdominal wall during active sleep period (AS) were completely abolished in the records of SIDS and of one ALTE. Normal developmental decreases of localized movements (LMs) on mental muscle with age were insufficient in ALTE. The numbers of twitch movements (TMs) were low in SIDS and in two of ALTE, while those of gross movements in the subjects were identical with those in the controls. Dissociation indexes (ratio of the number of TMs against the sum of the numbers of TMs and LMs) were low in SIDS and in two of ALTE. These findings seemed to be the physiological reflection of the impairment of arousal responsiveness and of the developmental disturbance of the brainstem in SIDS and ALTE. Polygraphic evaluations on the respiratory pattern during AS and the dissociation state of TMs from LMs may be helpful in the early detection of SIDS and/or ALTE in asymptomatic infants.
Kohyama
J
J
Department of Pediatrics, Tsuchiura Kyoudou Hospital, Ibaraki, Japan.
Iwakawa
Y
Y
D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D012890:Sleep / Q000502:physiology*; D013398:Sudden Infant Death / Q000503:physiopathology*