TY - JOUR T1 - Usefulness of pulse transit time in diagnostics of paediatric sleep disorders JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J VL - 42 IS - Suppl 57 SP - P2593 AU - Marcin Kawalski AU - Grzegorz Namyslowski AU - Maciej Misiolek AU - Maciej Tazbirek Y1 - 2013/09/01 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/42/Suppl_57/P2593.abstract N2 - Sleep disordered breathing is common yet relatively rarely diagnosed. If left untreated, it leads to a number of consequences, ranging from primary snoring to complete sleep apnea syndrome with impaired intellectual and physical development.Polysomnography is considered the diagnostic gold standard, however it has limitations, which prevent the widespread use such as limited number of properly staffed and equipped sleep laboratories and financial constraints. A sensitive, specific and economically viable method, which could be used for rapid identification of patients with sleep-disordered breathing is necessary.The aim of the study was to evaluate the usefulness of pulse transit time in the screening diagnostics of sleep-disordered breathing in children. This method was compared with nocturnal oximetry, heart rate variability and evaluation of the cortical arousals.The study included a group of 153 children aged 3-14 years, treated at the I.Moscicki Hospital because of suspected sleep-disordered breathing. All children underwent full polysomnography. Screening methods were assessed in regards of their ability to predict the outcome of the complete polysomnography examination. Pulse transit time (PTT) proved to be significantly correlated with the apnea-hypopnea index in all age groups.Assessment of PTT has proved to be a more effective diagnostic tool than the other analyzed methods Pulse transit time is a sensitive indicator of the presence of sleep-disordered breathing in children and can distinguish among its various types. As a simple and inexpensive method it can be used in screening studies of respiratory sleep disorders in children. ER -