Obstructive Sleep Apnea in Children With Beckwith-Wiedemann Syndrome

Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome (BWS) is a rare pediatric overgrowth disorder that includes a spectrum of clinical findings including macroglossia, especially in those with loss of methylation at the imprinting control region (IC2 LOM) on chromosome 11. Children with BWS can have very severe obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), but the prevalence of OSA in this population is poorly understood, as is the relationship between OSA and the BWS genotype/phenotype. We hypothesized that there would be a high prevalence of OSA in children with BWS, and that OSA would be more severe in children with IC2 LOM.

Medical records from children evaluated from March 2015 through January 2018 were reviewed for results from polysomnography, genetic testing, and clinical assessment.

A total of 26 children with BWS not previously treated for OSA underwent polysomnography, genetic testing, and clinical assessment. Median (range) age was 5 months (3 days to 33 months). Most children, 20 (76.9%), had an obstructive apnea-hypopnea index (OAHI) > 2 events/h. Median (range) OAHI was 4.4 events/h (0 to 56.1 events/h). OAHI was significantly greater in participants younger than 6 months compared with those older than 6 months (P = .008). Those with IC2 LOM did not have a greater OAHI (P = .61) than those with other genetic causes of BWS, but OAHI had a strong positive correlation with BWS clinical score (Spearman rho = .54, P = .004).

There is a high prevalence of OSA in children with BWS with macroglossia. Younger children with BWS and those with more phenotypic features may be at greatest risk of OSA.