PEDIATRICS Vol. 65 No. 4 April 1980, pp. 713-717
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Apnea and Sleep State in Infants with Nasopharyngitis

Jeffrey B. Gould MD1, Austin F. S. Lee PhD1, Peter Cook MS1, and Suzette Morelock 1

1 Section of Perinatal Medicine, Boston City Hospital and the Departments of Pediatrics and Mathematics, Boston University

Having a mild upper respiratory tract infection does not change the sleep state proportions or total sleep time of an infant. However, infants with colds exhibit some sleep state specific alterations in sleep apnea. At 40, 44, and 48 weeks postconception, the number of respiratory pauses of 2 to 4.9 seconds and of 5 to 9.9 seconds duration per 100 minutes of state, during rapid eye movement, and indeterminate sleep are decreased in infants with colds. The absence of this phenomenon at 52 weeks suggests that it is modified by maturation. We hypothesize that the reduction in rapid eye movement and indeterminate sleep apnea is a manifestation of an adaptive response in normal infants, but for infants at risk for the sudden infant death syndrome, this response may be overwhelmed, resulting in increased apnea and, in some instances, sudden infant death.

Submitted on January 23, 1979
Accepted on July 27, 1979