title: Episodes of apnea, desaturation and bradycardia and the development of necrotizing enterocolitis in preterm infants: a case-control study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate for any association between episodes of apnea, desaturation and bradycardia and necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC).
  
  
  METHODS
  Case-control study in infants of gestational age < 30 weeks. For each NEC case we selected two controls. During the period from 2001 to 2007, data were extracted from the nurse's notes of the patient's medical records. A p < 0.05 was statistically significant.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 38 out of 394 infants had NEC (9.6%). There were no significant differences in baseline characteristics between the 2 groups, except for a lower proportion of infants who were receiving breast milk in the NEC group (p = 0.02). There was no difference in the overall number of apneas & bradycardias or severe episodes of desaturation & bradycardia between the 2 groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  No association between episodes of apnea, severe desaturations or bradycardia and development of NEC was observed in this preterm population.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, McGill University Health Center, Royal Victoria Hospital, Montreal, QC, Canada.
authors.forename: Brahim
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bensouda
authors.forename: Samar El
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Tarazi
authors.forename: Nabeel
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ali
authors.forename: Romain
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mandel
authors.forename: Guilherme M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Sant'Anna
mesh_terms: D001049:Apnea / Q000453:epidemiology*; D001919:Bradycardia / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004750:Enteral Nutrition / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D020345:Enterocolitis, Necrotizing / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature; D007235:Infant, Premature, Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D019102:Infant, Very Low Birth Weight; D008297:Male; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood; D011247:Pregnancy; D011792:Quebec / Q000453:epidemiology; D012307:Risk Factors
chemical_list: D010100:Oxygen