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A Method for Estimating Pulse Wave Amplitude Variability in children with Sleep Disordered Breathing
Insights
Children with sleep disordered breathing (SDB) exhibit altered autonomic nervous system activity during sleep. This study found wider pulse wave amplitude dynamics in SDB children, indicating a stronger autonomic response.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Pulmonology
- Cardiovascular Physiology
- Autonomic Neuroscience
Background:
- Sleep disordered breathing (SDB) is a prevalent pediatric condition impacting sleep quality and daytime function.
- SDB is linked to increased respiratory workload, restless sleep, and daytime sleepiness in children.
- Chronic autonomic activation is hypothesized to drive cardiovascular changes and future disease risk in children with SDB.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of SDB on autonomic activation in children.
- To analyze pulse wave amplitude (PWA) dynamics from photoplethysmography (PPG) signals as an indicator of autonomic response.
Main Methods:
- Utilized an envelope estimation method to extract PWA from PPG signals during sleep.
- Compared PWA dynamics between a cohort of 40 children with SDB and 40 matched controls.
Main Results:
- Children with SDB demonstrated a significantly wider dynamic distribution in PWA compared to controls.
- This wider PWA distribution suggests a higher and more robust autonomic response in SDB children during sleep.
Conclusions:
- Sleep disordered breathing alters pulse wave amplitude dynamics during sleep in children.
- These PWA alterations indicate significant changes in autonomic activation associated with pediatric SDB.
Abstract:
Sleep disordered breathing (SDB) is a common pediatric disorder, which results in increasing respiratory workload during sleep, restless night time sleep and excessive daytime sleepiness. It has significant negative effects on children with SDB on their physical growth and cognitive related developments. Chronic autonomic activation was suggested to be one of the possible key drivers causing cardiovascular structural changes in SDB children and increasing the risk of developing cardiovascular disease in their future. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of SDB on autonomic activation changes in children, by analyzing the pulse wave amplitude (PWA) dynamics using a simple envelope estimation method extracting PWA from PPG signal.Children with SDB (n = 40) showed a significantly a wider dynamic distribution in PWA compare to matched controls (n = 40), which suggests a higher and stronger level of autonomic response in SDB children.In conclusion, the PWA dynamic is altered in children with SDB during sleep and indicate changes in autonomic activation.
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