Respiratory variability according to sleep states during mechanical ventilation: a polygraphic study in a baby with bilateral diaphragmatic paralysis.

Polygraphic recordings were performed at 1 and 2 months of age in mechanically ventilated baby (25-27 insufflations per min) with bilateral diaphragmatic paralysis. The EEG and the sleep organisation were normal for the given age. The breathing patterns were state dependent. Autonomous breathing movements and phasic inspiratory intercostal EMG were present during both wakefulness and active sleep (AS). In quiet sleep (QS) the respiration was usually passive, completly dependent on the respirator. Small autonomous breathings can occur in some periods of QS, simultaneously with the appearance of numerous skin potential responses. These results are probably related to the differences between the respiratory control in QS and in AS.