TY - JOUR T1 - Adenotonsillectomy Improves Slow Wave Activity in Children with Obstructive Sleep apnoea JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J DO - 10.1183/09031936.00106710 SP - erj01067-2010 AU - N. Ben-Israel AU - Y. Zigel AU - A. Tal AU - Y. Segev AU - A. Tarasiuk Y1 - 2010/01/01 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/early/2010/08/20/09031936.00106710.abstract N2 - To estimate slow-wave activity (SWA), a marker of sleep homeostasis, in children with obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) before and after adenotonsillectomy (TA) compared with untreated OSA children (comparison group).Fourteen consecutively recruited children with OSA (age 6.4±2.5, AHI 10.0±10.3) who underwent TA; Comparison group (n=6) retrospectively recruited children (age 5.4±2.2, AHI 9.4±7.6) with OSA that did not undergo treatment. Electroencephalogram (derivation C3/A2) was analysed using spectral and waveform analysis to determine SWA energy and slow wave slope. The same procedure was repeated 5.4 and 19 months later for the TA and comparison groups, respectively.TA improved respiration without a change in duration of sleep stages. Following TA >50% elevation of SWA during the first two sleep cycles (p<0.01), and more physiologic decay of SWA across the night (p<0.0001) were noted. The slope of slow waves increased by >30% following TA (p<0.03). No significant changes were found in SWA in the comparison group.Sleep homeostasis is considerably impaired in pre-pubescent children with OSA. Adenotonsillectomy restores more physiological sleep homeostasis in children with OSA. SWA analysis may provide a useful addition to standard sleep stage analyses in children with OSA. ER -