Polygraphy after discharge in preterm infants with and without apnea in the nursery.

Nine of nineteen infants in this study exhibited two or more central apnea greater than or equal to 20 seconds when they were older than one week and between 32-36 weeks postconceptional age (PCA). We focused on the sequelae of these apneas. Apnea was separated from other morbidity associated with immaturity by the selection of consistently healthy infants. Following discharge, polygraphic tracings were obtained at 40, 44 and 52 weeks PCA in these non-apneic and previously apneic infants. Sleep states, minute by minute values for heart and respiratory rate, skin temperature and transcutaneous O2 (PtcO2) and CO2 (PtcCO2), apnea and transient decreases in PtcO2 were determined. Polygraphic measurements did not differentiate preterm infants with late apnea in the nursery from non-apneic ones. However, the apneic group exhibited a transient decrease in awakenings at 44 weeks PCA.