Comparison of polysomnography, sleep apnea screening test and cardiopulmonary coupling in the diagnosis of pediatric obstructive sleep apnea syndrome.

OBJECTIVE

The study aims to investigate into the correlation between clinical characteristics of pediatric obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and the results of polysomnography (PSG), sleep apnea screening test (SAST) and cardiopulmonary coupling (CPC) respectively and compare their diagnostic values for pediatric OSA patients.

METHODS

We recruited 239 pediatric OSA patients aged between 2 and 12 from Jan 1, 2017 to Jun 30, 2018. All the patients received PSG, SAST and CPC simultaneously and the results of these three different tests were compared and analyzed together with their clinical features. The relationship between the size of adenoid/tonsil and the severity of OSA was also analyzed.

RESULTS

No statistically significant differences were noted between SAST and PSG in the oxygen desaturation index (ODI) and lowest oxygen saturation (LsO) respectively. No significant statistical difference was noted in the proportion of rapid eye movement sleep between CPC and PSG. The apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) from CPC was significantly lower than that from PSG. In the severe OSA group, no significant statistical difference was noted in AHI between these two tests. However, AHI from CPC was significantly lower than that from PSG in other groups. No statistically significant difference was noted in AHI and ODI among different groups graded by the size of adenoid or tonsil, suggesting that the size of adenoid/tonsil may not be highly related to the severity of OSA.

CONCLUSION

SAST is an acceptable fast screening tool in the assessments of blood oxygen desaturation and further pediatric OSA screening. CPC is capable to screen severe pediatric OSA, but its results should be interpreted with caution for pediatric patients with non-severe OSA. The size of adenoid/tonsil may not be highly related to the severity of OSA.