Reference:
Lee SH, Choi JH, Park IH, et al. Measuring sleep quality after adenotonsillectomy in pediatric sleep apnea. Laryngoscope 2012; 122(9): 2115-21. DOI:10.1002/lary.23356
Objectives:
To demonstrate postoperative changes in sleep quality in children with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), using both conventional sleep staging and electrocardiogram-based cardiopulmonary coupling (CPC) analysis. The hypothesis is that being electroencephalography (EEG)-independent, CPC may detect changes in sleep quality that traditional sleep architecture analysis cannot.
Conclusions:
Adenotonsillectomy led to a significant change in CPC parameters (HFC, LFC), which was paralleled by significant improvements in the apnea-hypopnea and arousal index. Polysomnographic sleep stage parameters other than the arousal index did not reflect postoperative resolution of OSA.
Practical Significance:
In pediatric OSA, postoperative improvement of sleep quality is more readily discernible by CPC analysis than EEG-based sleep staging. The CPC analysis may have potential advantages in the assessment of sleep quality in pediatric populations.