Functional residual capacity and sleep states in the premature newborn

Functional residual capacity (FRC) variations in relation to sleep state changes were studied in 11 premature infants with birth weights of 1.68 +/- 0.48 kg and gestational ages of 32.7 +/- 2.2 weeks (mean +/- SD). Helium dilution was used to measure FRC, and sleep states were identified using neurophysiologic criteria. No significant difference in FRC could be demonstrated between data collected during active sleep (AS) and quiet sleep. However a relationship was shown between AS and paradoxical breathing (p less than 0.02) and between AS and irregular breathing (p less than 0.05). Several factors are discussed which might explain the discrepancy between the present data in premature infants and the previously published data in term infants. (1) Neurophysiologic identification of sleep states does not include breathing pattern whereas behavioral identification does. It is therefore possible that lung volume changes are related to breathing pattern changes and not to sleep state changes per se. (2) Maturational changes may occur among the mechanisms which control FRC, leading to a progressive stabilisation of FRC, the variation of which could become related to sleep state changes.