PEDIATRICS Vol. 97 No. 4 April 1996, pp. 554-559
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow P3Rs: Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when P3Rs are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow E-mail this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My File Cabinet
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via CrossRef
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Curzi-Dascalova, L.
Right arrow Articles by Christova, E.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Curzi-Dascalova, L.
Right arrow Articles by Christova, E.

Respiratory Characteristics During Sleep in Healthy Small-for-Gestational Age Newborns

Lilia Curzi-Dascalova MD, PhD1, Patricio Peirano MD, PhD2, and Emilia Christova MD, PhD3

1 INSERM, Laboratoire de Physiologie-Explorations Fonctionnelles, Hôpital Robert Debré, Paris, France
2 INSERM, Laboratoire de Physiologie-Explorations Fonctionnelles, Hôpital Robert Debré Paris, France; INTA university of Chile, Developmental Neurophysiology Unit, Santiago, Chile
3 Institute of Pediatrics, Medical School, Sofia, Bulgaria

Objective. Small-for-gestational age (SGA) infants born with intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) differ from appropriate-for-gestational age (AGA) infants by: a) alterations in a number of neurologic and neurophysiologic characteristics; b) modified heart rate variability during the neonatal period; and c) increased morbidity rates during the first months of life. However, there are no data on the impact of IUGR on respiratory function control at birth.

Methods. We studied 57 newborns who were 35 to 36, 37 to 38, and 39 to 41 weeks' conceptional age (CA): 31 were AGA and 26 were SGA. All were clinically and neurologically normal at birth and none exhibited abnormal events during the first year of life. Polygraphic recordings were performed between two meals during the normal postnatal stay in the maternity ward.

Results. During both active sleep (AS) and quiet sleep (QS), SGA infants in all CA groups had significently higher values for the incidence of 2 to 4.9 seconds and 5 to 9.9 seconds central respiratory pauses (RP), the apnea index (AI) [AI = % of nonbreathing time], and the time spent with periodic breathing (PB), as compared with AGA infants Respiratory frequency was usually similar in SGA and AGA infants. In addition, the trend of age-related respiratory modifications was disturbed in SGA infants, as compared with AGA infants: at 39 to 41 weeks CA, SGA infants had no significant decreases in RP, AI, or PB, and no increase in respiratory frequency. However, between-state differences were similar in both groups. In all AGA and SGA infant groups respiratory frequency seemed to be an individual characteristic: infants who breathed faster during AS breathed faster during QS, and vice-versa.

Conclusion. Our data demonstrate significant modifications in the establishment of respiratory rhythm control in SGA infants, whereas the patterns of state-related and subject-dependent breathing characteristics were similar in SGA and AGA infants. We speculate that the dysregulation of respiratory function control maturation observed in healthy SGA infants may be related to subtle brainstem modifications attributable to the decreased blood supply and chronic hypoxia associated with IUGR.

Submitted on December 12, 1994
Accepted on September 11, 1995




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 J. Appl. Physiol.Home page
B. C. Galland, B. J. Taylor, D. P. G. Bolton, and R. M. Sayers
Heart rate variability and cardiac reflexes in small for gestational age infants
J Appl Physiol, March 1, 2006; 100(3): 933 - 939.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med.Home page
D. Gozal, S. R. Reeves, B. W. Row, J. J. Neville, S. Z. Guo, and A. J. Lipton
Respiratory Effects of Gestational Intermittent Hypoxia in the Developing Rat
Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med., June 1, 2003; 167(11): 1540 - 1547.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Arch. Dis. Child. Fetal Neonatal Ed.Home page
B C Galland, B J Taylor, D P G Bolton, and R M Sayers
Respiratory responses to hypoxia/hypercapnia in small for gestational age infants influenced by maternal smoking
Arch. Dis. Child. Fetal Neonatal Ed., March 1, 2003; 88(3): F217 - F222.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J Child NeurolHome page
S. D. Richards, S. Ritchie, G. R. Hobbs, M. Mandich, and R. D. Sheth
Neonatal Suck Reflex Pattern Does Not Predict Apnea
J Child Neurol, September 1, 1999; 14(9): 614 - 616.
[Abstract] [PDF]