Pneumogram recordings and cerebral computed tomography as predictors of the severity of infant apnea.

We studied several predictors of severity of apnea and caretakers' anxiety about home cardiorespiratory monitoring in 476 families with infants enrolled in a perinatal follow-up program. Thirty-six (8%) of the infants had apparent life-threatening events at home. These infants were compared with the remaining infants, who had benign outcomes. Normal pneumograms and normal cerebral computed tomographic scans predicted the absence of significant respiratory problems (99% and 100% true negative rates, respectively). Infants with these signs may not require home monitoring. This study used a stringent criterion of periodic breathing (< or = 3% of quiet time) in defining a normal pneumogram. A more common criterion (< or = 10%) would have accurately predicted only 45% and missed 55% of the infants with life-threatening events. Level of caretakers' anxiety about monitoring was related to severity of apnea. Parental anxiety about monitoring may have been overestimated in previous research.