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Intermittent hypoxia in preterm infants: Measurement using the desaturation index
Author(s) -
Wellington Grace,
Campbell Angela,
Elder Dawn
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
pediatric pulmonology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.866
H-Index - 106
eISSN - 1099-0496
pISSN - 8755-6863
DOI - 10.1002/ppul.24276
Subject(s) - medicine , interquartile range , pulse oximetry , neonatal intensive care unit , gestational age , pediatrics , hypoxia (environmental) , oxygenation , bronchopulmonary dysplasia , cohort , anesthesia , neonatology , oxygenation index , pregnancy , oxygen , chemistry , organic chemistry , biology , genetics
Objective The aims of this study were to: (i) Determine in preterm infants at neonatal discharge the prevalence of intermittent hypoxia (IH), as measured by the oxygen desaturation index (DSI) recorded by pulse oximetry and (ii) Determine the change in values for very preterm infants at 1‐month post discharge. Methods Preterm infants were recruited from the Wellington regional neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and 24‐h pulse oximetry recordings performed immediately before discharge. Infants born <32 weeks gestational age (GA) had repeat oximetry 1‐month post discharge. Oxygenation measures included the 3% and 4% desaturation (DSI 3%, DSI 4%) indices. Results At discharge from the neonatal unit the median and interquartile range (IQR) for DSI 4% was 51 (31‐74) events per hour with normal mean SpO 2 (median of 97.9% [97.2‐98.8 IQR]). Episodes of IH 1 month post discharge decreased with improvements of between 42% and 57% seen for the three DSI measures. Infants <32 weeks GA had higher median DSI 3 and 4% values at discharge but differences when compared with late preterm infants were not significant. Conclusions Preterm infants have frequent episodes of IH as measured by the 3% and 4% DSI when deemed otherwise ready for discharge home. Further research in a larger cohort of very preterm infants and also in term infants is needed to determine the significance of this finding.