Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome: a child is not just a small adult.
OBJECTIVE
Pediatric obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS), like adult OSAS, is characterized by intermittent upper airway collapse during sleep and is associated with anatomic and neuromuscular factors. However, the clinical manifestations, diagnostic criteria, and polysomnographic findings of OSAS in children are likely to be different from those in adults. The purpose of this study was to identify the characteristics that distinguish the clinical manifestations and polysomnographic findings of OSAS in children from those in adults.


METHODS
The study population consisted of 34 children (mean age, 7.6 years; range, 4 to 16 years) with OSAS and 33 adults (mean age, 40.1 years; range, 18 to 58 years) with OSAS. We compared various clinical manifestations, such as body mass index, tonsil size, severity of symptoms and signs, and polysomnographic data, between these groups.


RESULTS
Obesity was more common among the adults, whereas tonsillar hypertrophy was more common among the children. There were significant differences between the groups in the severity of symptoms and signs, including witnessed apnea, daytime sleepiness, morning headache, memory reduction, and daytime fatigue. In the children with OSAS, slow-wave sleep was relatively well preserved, and respiratory events such as apnea and hypopnea occurred mainly during rapid eye movement sleep.


CONCLUSIONS
The clinical manifestations and polysomnographic findings in children with OSAS differ from those in adults with OSAS.
Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, College of Medicine, Korea University, Seoul, Korea.
Ji Ho
JH
Choi
Eun Joong
EJ
Kim
June
J
Choi
Soon Young
SY
Kwon
Tae Hoon
TH
Kim
Sang Hag
SH
Lee
Heung Man
HM
Lee
Chol
C
Shin
Seung Hoon
SH
Lee
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006984:Hypertrophy; D008297:Male; D014066:Palatine Tonsil / Q000473:pathology; D017286:Polysomnography; D020181:Sleep Apnea, Obstructive / Q000503:physiopathology*