Sleep and EEG features of newborns with 18 and 13 trisomy syndromes.

Serial polygraphic recordings of two to three hours duration were made in five full-term newborns with trisomy 18 and one full-term newborn with trisomy 13 syndrome. The newborns with 18 trisomy syndrome were poor sleepers with long periods of wakefulness and/or drowsiness. There were no consistent abnormalities in the sleep profile characteristic of 18 or 13 trisomy syndrome. These infants had some difficulty in organizing a stable sleep cycle especially during the immediate neonatal period. There was poor correlation between EEG patterns and states. After one to two weeks, cyclic organization of sleep showed some tendency towards normalization, although there were more trace alternant and fewer high voltage slow patterns in quiet sleep even around and after 44 weeks conceptional age. Other abnormal features of sleep often observed were an increase of indeterminate sleep, a decrease of quiet sleep, and an increase or decrease of active sleep in some records.