Objective: We examined the effectiveness of nasal continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) for treatment of sleep apnoea in infants.
Methodology: We studied five infants who all had significant central and mixed apnoea and severe sleep fragmentation. Polysomnographic recordings were performed on 2 consecutive nights in these infants. One night was used as a control study and during the second night nasal CPAP was applied throughout the night.
Results: Nasal CPAP significantly reduced apnoea in each infant, with the apnoea index (apnoeas/h) decreasing from 65.6 +/- 14.6 during the control study to 10.5 +/- 14.6 during CPAP in non-rapid eye movement (non-REM) sleep, and from 106 +/- 13.9 during the control study to 26.6 +/- 13.9 during CPAP in REM sleep. Nasal CPAP also improved the sleep fragmentation markedly; REM sleep increased from 14.2 +/- 1.2% of sleep during the control study to 27.1 +/- 1.2% of sleep during CPAP.
Conclusions: We conclude that nasal CPAP is an effective treatment for infantile apnoea. Sleep apnoea in these infants is associated with profound sleep fragmentation, which is reversed by nasal CPAP.