[Infantile apnea. The etiopathogenic aspects. I].

The paper reports on etiopathogenesis aspects of apnea, on the basis of the literature data. After showing the importance of the problem and the definitions accepted, the author presents the physiological and physiopathological framework of the breathing control. The paper deals with apnea and periodic breathing associated with evident diseases and procedures, and idiopathic apnea. The central, obstructive and mixed types of apnea and their characteristics are described. The final part of the paper dwells on other mechanisms involved in apnea: gastroesophageal flux, endorphines, increased serum level of catecholamines and abnormal awakening hypoxic threshold, tobacco and coffee consumption.