Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Sleep Position: Does It Matter for Infants With a Cleft Palate?

OBJECTIVE

To determine whether nonsupine sleep improves obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in infants with cleft palate undergoing polysomnography (PSG).

DESIGN

Retrospective chart review.

SETTING

Tertiary care pediatric hospital.

PATIENTS: Twenty-seven infants (1 month to 1 year) with cleft palate with or without cleft lip (CP ± L) undergoing PSG testing for suspected OSA were included.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Polysomnography measures included obstructive apnea-hypopnea index (OAHI), central apnea-hypopnea index (CAHI), oxygen saturation (SpO2) nadir, SpO2, and end-tidal carbon dioxide (ETCO2).

RESULTS

Twenty-three PSGs with at least 20 minutes of sleep in both the supine and the nonsupine positions were analyzed. The supine OAHI (mean: 16.8 events/hour; standard deviation [SD]: 18.5) and nonsupine OAHI (mean: 12.6 events/hour; SD: 12.6) did not differ significantly (P = .10). The supine CAHI (mean: 1.9 events/hour; SD: 2.7) and nonsupine CAHI (mean: 3.1 events/hour; SD: 3.7; P = .15), the supine SpO2 nadir (mean: 81.2%; SD: 6.3) and nonsupine SpO2 nadir (mean: 81.8%; SD: 5.3; P = .70), the supine mean SpO2 (mean: 95.5%; SD: 1.9) and nonsupine mean SpO2 saturation (mean: 95.3%; SD: 2.4; P = .34), and the supine ETCO2 (mean: 45.4 mm Hg; SD: 5.3) and nonsupine ETCO2 (mean: 42.5 mm Hg; SD: 10.1; P = .24) were also similar.

CONCLUSIONS

There were no significant improvements in OSA metrics during nonsupine sleep in infants with CP ± L. Prior to recommending nonsupine positioning which increases infant's exposure to sudden infant death syndrome risk, we advocate obtaining a PSG to verify an objective improvement in OSA.