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Very long apnea events in preterm infants
Mary A Mohr1, Brooke D Vergales2, Hoshik Lee3
1Department of Physics, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia; mmohr@email.wm.edu.
Journal of Applied Physiology (Bethesda, Md. : 1985)
|January 1, 2015
Summary
Very long apnea events are common in premature infants and may not trigger alarms, potentially impacting patient safety. More reliable apnea detection systems are needed in neonatal intensive care units.
Area of Science:
- Neonatal Medicine
- Respiratory Physiology
Background:
- Apnea is common in very low birth weight (VLBW) infants, posing risks of bradycardia and desaturation.
- Very long apnea events (VLAs) with associated clinical consequences require further investigation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To describe the incidence and characteristics of very long central apnea events (VLAs) in VLBW infants.
- To evaluate the performance of apnea and bradycardia alarms during VLAs.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a computerized detection system on electronic signals from over 100 infant-years.
- Analyzed 86 VLAs in 335 VLBW infants, correlating events with clinical conditions and monitoring alarms.
Main Results:
- Eighty-six VLAs were identified in 29 infants; 18 had related clinical events.
- Apnea alarms activated late (28s post-cessation) in 66% of events; bradycardia alarms were even later (64s).
- Oxygen saturation and heart rate decreased slowly during VLAs, with initial high oxygen saturation.
Conclusions:
- Very long apnea events with bradycardia and desaturation are not rare in VLBW infants.
- Apnea alarms failed in about one-third of VLAs, potentially delaying response.
- Improved apnea detection systems are crucial for enhancing patient safety in neonatal intensive care units.
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