Gastroesophageal reflux increases the number of apneas in very preterm infants
- Luigi Corvaglia (luigi.corvaglia{at}unibo.it)
- Published Online First 11 September 2008
Abstract
Objective: To document the existence of a relationship between apnea of prematurity (AOP) and gastroesophageal reflux (GER) in preterm infants.
Setting: One Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.
Patients: Twenty-six preterm infants (gestational age<32 weeks) with recurrent apneas.
Intervention: Simultaneous and synchronized recording of polysomnography and pH-impedance monitoring (pH-MII). Polysomnography detects and characterizes apneas, by recording of breathing movement, nasal airflow, electrocardiogram, pulse oximeter saturation. pH-MII is the state-of-the-art methodology for GER detection in preterm newborns.
Main outcome measures: Relationship between AOP and GER, which were considered temporally related if both started within 30 seconds of each other.
Results: One-hundred-fifty-four apneas out of 1136 were temporally related to GER. The frequency of apnea during the one-minute time around the onset of GER was significantly higher than the one detected in the GER-free period (p=0.03). Furthermore, the frequency of apnea in the 30 seconds after GER (GER-triggered apneas) was greater than that detected in the 30 seconds before (p=0.01). A great inter-individual variability was documented in the proportion of GER-triggered apneas. A strong correlation between total number of apneas and the difference between apneas detected 30 seconds after and before GER was found (p=0.034).
Conclusions: Our data show that a variable rate of apneas can be triggered by GER in very preterm infant. Further studies are needed to recognise clinical features which identify those patients who are more susceptible to GER-triggered apneas.
