Apnea and sleep state in newborns and infants.
Many studies have shown a greater frequency of apneas in active sleep than in quiet sleep in healthy newborns and infants, both full-term and preterm. The ontogeny of increased apnea during active sleep is related to phasic inhibitory-excitatory central mechanisms occurring during active sleep. Respiratory instability in active sleep can be increased by factors which modify the newborn's or infant's homeostasis. We have shown: (1) an increase in body temperature (0.8 degrees C) significantly augments periodic breathing in preterm infants at 40 weeks postconceptional age; (2) maternal administration of meperidine is followed by a significant increase in number of apneas during the first hours of life in full-term newborns, but only during active sleep; (3) sleep deprivation induces significantly more obstructive respiratory events in active sleep than in quiet sleep in infants. Active sleep appears to be a risk period for exaggeration of the occurrence of apneas when the newborn's or infant's homeostasis is disturbed.
Laboratoire de Physiologie, INSERM CJF 8909, Hôpital A.-Beclere, Clamart, France.
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D001831:Body Temperature / Q000502:physiology; D001933:Brain Stem / Q000503:physiopathology; D006706:Homeostasis / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D012125:Respiratory Center / Q000503:physiopathology; D015656:Respiratory Mechanics / Q000502:physiology; D012891:Sleep Apnea Syndromes / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012892:Sleep Deprivation / Q000502:physiology; D012894:Sleep Stages / Q000502:physiology*