Nugent S T, Finley J P
J Appl Physiol (1985). 1985 Mar;58(3):830-3. doi: 10.1152/jappl.1985.58.3.830.
Periodic breathing occurs commonly in full-term and preterm infants. The mechanisms which switch breathing on and off within a cycle of periodic breathing are not certain. Since immature infants may experience diaphragmatic muscle fatigue, one potential switching mechanism is fatigue. Power spectra of the electromyogram, uncontaminated by the electrocardiograph artifact, were studied for evidence of diaphragmatic muscle fatigue during spontaneous periodic breathing in infants. A fall in the high-frequency (103-600 Hz) power and an increase in the low-frequency (23-47 Hz) power during periodic as compared with normal breathing would indicate fatigue. This effect was not observed in any of the infants studied. Hence, there is no evidence that periodic breathing is the result of diaphragmatic muscle fatigue. This finding suggests that the effect of drugs such as theophylline in eliminating periodic breathing may be unrelated to the fact that they also reduce fatigue.
周期性呼吸常见于足月儿和早产儿。在周期性呼吸周期中控制呼吸开启和关闭的机制尚不确定。由于未成熟婴儿可能会出现膈肌疲劳，一种潜在的转换机制是疲劳。研究了未受心电图伪迹干扰的肌电图功率谱，以寻找婴儿在自主周期性呼吸期间膈肌疲劳的证据。与正常呼吸相比，周期性呼吸期间高频（103 - 600赫兹）功率下降和低频（23 - 47赫兹）功率增加表明存在疲劳。在所研究的任何婴儿中均未观察到这种效应。因此，没有证据表明周期性呼吸是膈肌疲劳的结果。这一发现表明，诸如茶碱之类的药物消除周期性呼吸的作用可能与它们也减轻疲劳这一事实无关。
