Abstract
Background: Diaphragmatic surface EMG is a recognised alternative measure of respiratory effort during sleep in children. A reliable method for quantifying sEMGdi has been developed.
Aim: To determine whether respiratory effort (as measured by sEMGdi) in children with sleep-disordered breathing can be improved by CPAP.
Methods: Children who had split overnight sleep studies ( diagnostic and CPAP titration within one study) were included. Excerpts from random eye movement (REM) and non-REM (NREM) sleep before and after CPAP initiation were exported from the Compumedics Profusion 3 system (Compumedics, Australia) to the Spike2 system (Cambridge Electronics Design, UK) for further analysis. Wilcoxon matched pairs signed-rank test were used to compare the sEMGdi.
Results: Split sleep studies from 10 children (8 boys; median age 1.85 years (IQR 0.84-11 years)) were included in this preliminary study. In NREM sleep, sEMGdi improved significant from median 5.83 uV (IQR 2.54-10.2) pre-CPAP to 4.00 uV (1.76-9.2) post CPAP. (p=0.037). In REM sleep, sEMGdi also improved significantly from 10.35uV (4.7-15.13) pre-CPAP to 4.35uV (2.15-6.7) post-CPAP. (p=0.037)
Conclusion: Respiratory effort can be improved by CPAP in children with sleep-disordered breathing, especially during REM sleep. Potentially sEMGdi is a useful outcome measure when titrating CPAP in children without OSA.
- Copyright ©the authors 2016
