Infants with viral bronchiolitis demonstrate two distinct patterns of nocturnal oxyhaemoglobin desaturation.

AIM: This study aimed to demonstrate that viral bronchiolitis is associated with intermittent oxygen saturation of haemoglobin (SpO2 ) drops (≥3%) and low basal SpO2 between episodes of haemoglobin desaturation. METHODS: Infants with bronchiolitis underwent pulse oximetry during the first night following hospital admission and a subgroup of them underwent repeat oximetry before hospital discharge. Oximetry was also performed in infants with partial upper airway obstruction (UAO) and without lung disease and in control participants without UAO or lung disease. RESULTS: We enrolled 53 infants: 21 with bronchiolitis, 11 with UAO and 21 healthy controls. Participants with bronchiolitis had lower basal SpO2 (median 93.7% [10th-90th percentiles: 91.1-96.8]) than the subjects with UAO (96.9% [95.3-98.1]; p < 0.01) or the controls (98.7% [96.9-99.3]; p < 0.01). The bronchiolitis group was not different from the UAO group regarding the desaturation index (23.3 episodes/hour [10.3-46.6] and 15.5 episodes/hour [5.4-36.4], respectively; p = 0.08), but differed significantly from the controls (3.1 episodes/hour [0.3-5.5]; p < 0.01). The basal SpO2 and desaturation index improved in 10 subjects with bronchiolitis who had follow-up oximetry before discharge, but these indices remained abnormal when compared to values in the control group. CONCLUSION: Bronchiolitis was characterised by low nocturnal basal SpO2 and intermittent SpO2 drops.

Clicking larynx syndrome - a diagnostic and surgical challenge.

When swallowing, a clicking in the throat may uncommonly occur, causing great discomfort and pain. This unpleasant event may lead health professionals to attribute the symptoms to psychogenic aetiology. The case of a 49-year-old female is presented, who reported an audible bilateral clicking in the throat, associated with neck and throat pain when swallowing or turning her neck. From the ENT examination and palpation of the neck during patient swallowing, we located the source of the clicking on the left. However, during palpation from side to side, the patient suffered bilateral pain. Laryngeal computed tomography with a 3D reconstruction showed a short distance between the hyoid bone and the superior part of the thyroid cornua, accompanied by posterior-medially displaced bilateral superior cornua in the thyrohyoid region. The bilateral sensation of throat pain during swallowing or palpation, in combination with our desire to maintain laryngeal symmetry, led us to a two-sided exeresis of the superior thyroid cornua. This resulted in immediate and complete relief of the symptoms. Although it is an uncommon complaint, clicking larynx syndrome should be considered as a differential diagnosis.

Nocturnal oximetry in children with obstructive lung disease or sleep-disordered breathing.

OBJECTIVES: Although progress has been made in the standardized interpretation of nocturnal oximetry in children with obstructive sleep-disordered breathing (SDB), no evidence exists on oximetry abnormalities in other respiratory disorders. We aimed to compare obstructive lung disease (OLD) and SDB regarding nocturnal oximetry parameters. METHODS: We analyzed oximetry recordings from children with (i) OLD (obliterative bronchiolitis; cystic fibrosis); (ii) snoring and adenotonsillar hypertrophy (SDB); and (iii) no respiratory disorder (controls). The three groups were compared regarding: (i) oxygen desaturation of hemoglobin index (SpO2 drops ≥3%/h-ODI3) and (ii) basal SpO2 (average SpO2 between SpO2 drops). The associations of oximetry parameters (natural logarithm) with study group were tested using linear regression including age as covariate. RESULTS: Data of 16 subjects with OLD (median age: 7.3 years; Q25, Q75: 5.4, 12), 22 children with SDB (6.3 years; 4, 9) and 22 controls (6.8 years; 5.6, 10.3) were analyzed. Children with OLD or SDB had significantly lower basal SpO2 than controls (91.9% [90.8, 93.4] vs 96.3% [96, 97.4] vs 97.6% [97.1, 97.9]; P < 0.01). No subjects in the SDB or control groups had basal SpO2 < 95%. Children with SDB had significantly higher ODI3 than children with OLD or controls [8.4 episodes/h (6.2, 16.6) vs 4.4 episodes/h (3.6, 6.6) vs 2 episodes/h (1.3, 2.7); P < 0.01]. OLD had the greatest negative effect on basal SpO2 (R2 = 0.62; P < 0.001) and SDB the greatest positive effect on ODI3 (R2 = 0.34; P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: OLD is associated mostly with reduced basal SpO2 , whereas SDB is characterized by elevated ODI3.

Obstructive events in children with Prader-Willi syndrome occur predominantly during rapid eye movement sleep.

OBJECTIVE: Children with Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) have a high prevalence of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS). In most typically developing children with OSAS, more obstructive apneas and hypopneas occur during rapid eye movement (REM) than during non-REM (NREM) sleep. It was hypothesized that patients with PWS are even more prone to obstructive events in REM sleep than otherwise healthy subjects with OSAS. METHODS: Polysomnographic data of patients with PWS and of typically developing children (controls) with OSAS (apnea-hypopnea index [AHI] > 1 episode/h) were analyzed. The two groups were compared regarding obstructive AHI (OAHI), OAHI during NREM sleep (OAHInrem), OAHI during REM sleep (OAHIrem), and the OAHIrem/OAHI ratio (outcome measures). The association between PWS diagnosis and OAHIrem/OAHI was adjusted for confounders using a general linear model. RESULTS: Twelve children with PWS (median age 7.1 years [interquartile range 3.5, 12.4 years]) and 53 controls (6.5 years [3.9, 8.7 years]) were studied. Children with PWS and controls were similar regarding OAHI (p = 0.21) and OAHInrem (p = 0.76). However, subjects with PWS had higher OAHIrem (17.6 episodes/h [5.8, 25.8 episodes/h]) and OAHIrem/OAHI (2.3 [1.5, 3.2]) than controls (5 episodes/h [1.5, 8.1 episodes/h]; p = 0.002 and 1 [0.5, 2]; p = 0.003, respectively). The association between PWS diagnosis and higher OAHIrem/OAHI persisted after adjustment for age, gender, and obesity (p = 0.009). CONCLUSION: In children with PWS, OAHI calculated for total sleep time does not reflect OSAS severity during REM sleep, which on average can be twice as high. Mild OSAS in patients with PWS demonstrated by polygraphy without sleep staging may correspond to a moderately-to-severely increased OAHIrem.