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Ventilatory function in pre-school children snorers and nonsnorers
D B Teculescu1, E Bourgkard, P Perrin
1INSERM Unité 420, Faculté de Medecine, Vandoeuvre/Nancy, France. Dan.Teculescu@nancy.inserm.fr
Insights
Flow-volume curves did not show significant alterations in snoring preschool children, suggesting they may not be reliable for detecting upper airway issues in this age group. Further validation in larger populations is needed.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Pulmonology
- Sleep Medicine
Background:
- The utility of flow-volume curve alterations for screening sleep apnea in adults remains debated.
- Identifying non-invasive screening methods for pediatric upper airway abnormalities is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the potential of flow-volume curves in detecting upper airway dynamic abnormalities in snoring preschool children.
- To assess if flow-volume curve patterns correlate with snoring frequency in young children.
Main Methods:
- Ventilatory function was analyzed in 190 preschool children (aged 5-6 years).
- Children were categorized based on parental reports of snoring frequency (never, with colds, occasionally, habitually).
- Flow-volume curves were analyzed for specific patterns and peak expiratory flow (PEF/m2).
Main Results:
- The characteristic adult
Conclusions:
- Flow-volume loop alterations, as seen in adults, were not identified in this cohort of young children.
- A trend towards reduced peak expiratory flow with increased snoring frequency was observed but requires further investigation.
- The study highlights the need for larger population studies to validate findings and explore potential inspiratory loop alterations.
Background:
The value of flow-volume curves alterations for screening for sleep apnoea is controversial in adults.
Objective:
The purpose of the present study was to assess the possible value of flow-volume curves, in snoring pre-school children to detect upper airway abnormal dynamics.
Methods:
We analysed ventilatory function of 190 children aged 5 to 6 years from nine kindergartens in Nancy, France, according to the presence or absence of snoring as declared by their parents.
Results:
More than half (103 = 54%) of the children never snored; 26 (= 13.7%) snored only with colds, 42 (22.1%) snored occasionally, and 19 (= 10%) snored habitually. The "saw tooth" sign described in adults by Sanders et al in 1981 was absent in all the children in this study, and the height-adjusted forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1/m2) was similar across the four groups. The height-adjusted peak expiratory flow (PEF/m2) decreased uniformly (but insignificantly) from the group of non-snorer (2.11 +/- 0.381/s/m2) through the group of children snoring with colds. (2.05 +/- 0.37) to the group of children snoring occasionally (1.99 +/- 0.33); no significant decrease was found in the group of habitual snorers (2.06 +/- 0.36).
Conclusion:
In this group of young children, we were unable to find the alteration of the expiratory flow-volume loop described in part of the studies in adults. We cannot, however, exclude an alteration of the inspiratory arm of the loop, as this was not recorded by us. Our results, suggesting a reduction in peak expiratory flow with increase in frequency of snoring need to be validated in a larger population of children.
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