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Progressive shortening of the periodic breathing cycle duration in normal infants
Insights
Periodic breathing in newborns shortens significantly during the first 3 months of life. This change in periodic breathing cycle duration may indicate maturation of peripheral chemoreceptors.
Area of Science:
- Neonatal Physiology
- Respiratory Control
Background:
- Periodic breathing is a common phenomenon in neonates.
- Understanding its developmental changes is crucial for assessing infant respiratory health.
Purpose of the Study:
- To longitudinally assess the changes in periodic breathing cycle duration in healthy full-term neonates during the first 12 weeks of life.
- To investigate the relationship between sleep state and periodic breathing duration.
- To explore the potential of periodic breathing cycle duration as an indicator of chemoreceptor maturation.
Main Methods:
- Longitudinal oxycardiorespirography monitoring of 10 healthy full-term neonates.
- Studies conducted in hospital (1st week) and at home (4, 8, 12 weeks).
- Analysis of periodic breathing epochs during rapid eye movement (REM) and non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep.
Main Results:
- Periodic breathing was observed in 62.5% of studies (168 epochs).
- Periodic breathing cycle duration significantly decreased from <1 week (15.0 ± 3.6 s) to 12 weeks (12.4 ± 1.8 s).
- Significant reductions occurred between weeks 1-4 and 4-12 (NREM sleep), with no significant differences between sleep states.
Conclusions:
- Periodic breathing cycle duration progressively shortens during the first 3 months of life.
- This shortening may serve as a useful indicator of peripheral chemoreceptor maturation.
- Sleep state transitions, sighs, and body movements frequently precede periodic breathing epochs in NREM sleep.
Abstract:
Ten normal full-term neonates were monitored by oxycardiorespirography in hospital during the 1st wk of life, and subsequently at home at 4, 8, and 12 wk of age in a longitudinal study of the duration of the periodic breathing cycle during spontaneous sleep. Periodic breathing was observed in 25 of the 40 studies, with a total of 168 epochs of periodicity noted. Eighty-four percent of the periodic epochs occurring during nonrapid eye movements were preceded by a sigh, body movements, or sleep state transition, compared with 41% during rapid eye movements (p less than 0.005). There was a progressive reduction in the periodic breathing cycle duration, which fell significantly between the 1st and 4th wk, in both sleep states, (p less than 0.001). There was a further significant fall between 4 and 12 wk in nonrapid eye movement sleep (p less than 0.05), and there was no significant difference between sleep states at any postnatal age. The overall change in the duration of the periodic cycle, for both sleep states combined, was from 15.0 +/- 3.6 s at less than 1 wk to 12.4 +/- 1.8 s at 12 wk of age. The periodic breathing cycle duration progressively shortens over the first 3 months of life. We postulate that this shortening may be useful indicator of peripheral chemoreceptor maturation over this time period.