Severity of Airway Obstruction May Not Correlate With Weight Gain or Failure to Thrive in Infants With Robin Sequence: A Pilot Study.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: Patients with Robin sequence (RS) can present with varying degrees of upper airway obstruction, difficulty maintaining adequate weight gain, and failure to thrive (FTT). Although inductive reasoning would suggest that these issues should be interrelated, the relationships between these factors have not been formally studied. This investigation explores the correlation between polysomnographic (PSG) findings, weight gain, and FTT in patients with RS. DESIGN: A prospective database for baseline PSG parameters and serial weight measurements in infants with RS who were admitted for airway obstruction was reviewed. The association between PSG variables and calorie intake with FTT was assessed using univariate and multivariable logistic regression. Categorical analysis of the PSG variables against FTT was explored with a Poisson regression, and linear regression was performed to evaluate the correlation between PSG parameters and percentage of weight gain. RESULTS: Univariate and multivariate logistic regression in RS patients with (n = 13) and without (n = 20) FTT showed no significant association between apnea-hypopnea index (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 0.99, P-value = 0.403), O2 nadir (aOR 0.98, P-value = 0.577), time of O2 saturation below 90% (aOR 1.03, P-value = 0.574), maximum end tidal carbon dioxide (aOR 1.0, P-value = 0.977), and average calorie intake (OR1.02; P-value = 0.984). Furthermore, no significant associations were identified between these variables and weight gain. CONCLUSIONS: This pilot study questions the widely held and intuitively logical belief that poor weight gain and/or FTT should correlate with the severity of upper airway obstruction in patients with RS. Large prospective investigations should be initiated to better explore the authors' findings. Our results also underscore the importance of individualized treatment for these challenging patients.