[A serious complication-obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome after velopharyngeal ring ligation procedure: report of 6 cases].
OBJECTIVE
To discuss the occurrence and characteristics of obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS) after velopharyngeal ring ligation procedure (VRLP).


METHODS
Seven hundred and eight cleft palate patients underwent velopharyngeal ring ligation procedure from 1997 to 2003. Nine cases were found having some suspicious symptoms of OSAHS after operation and 6 of them were confirmed as OSAHS by polysomnography. Six VRLP patients without OSAHS as controls were examined with polysomnography. Chi-square test and t test were used to determine the statistical differences between the groups.


RESULTS
Six cases of 708 patients met the criterion of severe OSAHS and the incidence of OSAHS after VRLP in children below 12 years was 1.8%. Compared with controls, more arousals and longer awakening were found in OSAHS group, the ratio of III and IV phase of NREM and REM in total sleep was significantly decreased (P<0.01).


CONCLUSIONS
OSAHS was likely to occur in VRLP patients below 12 years. Many feature of this kind of OSAHS were different from the ordinary pediatric OSAHS. It showed that OSAHS after VRLP was characterized by more apneas, less partial upper airway obstruction and associated with distinguished staged desaturation.
Wang
Ke-tao
KT
Qilu Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan 250012, China. wkt1972@126.com
Wei
Feng-cai
FC
Zhao
Hua-qiang
HQ
Song
Ling
L
Wang
Yan
Y
Chen
An-wei
AW
D002648:Child; D006801:Humans; D008026:Ligation / Q000009:adverse effects*; D017286:Polysomnography; D020181:Sleep Apnea, Obstructive / Q000209:etiology*; D055158:Velopharyngeal Sphincter / Q000601:surgery*