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Abstract Aim Preterm infants are at increased risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) and frequently experience short central apnoeas which can occur in isolation or a repetitive pattern (periodic breathing). We investigated the relationship between central apnoeas experienced before and over the 6 months after hospital discharge and cerebral oxygenation. Methods Preterm infants born between 28 and 32 weeks gestational age (GA) were studied during supine daytime sleep at 32–36 weeks post menstrual age (PMA) ( n = 40), 36–40 weeks PMA ( n = 27), 3‐months corrected age (CA) ( n = 20) and 6‐months CA ( n = 26). Cerebral tissue oxygenation (TOI), peripheral oxygenation (SpO 2 ) and heart rate were recorded continuously. The percentage total sleep time (%TST) spent having central apnoeas at each study and cerebral fractional oxygen extraction (SpO 2 ‐TOI/SpO 2 ) were calculated. Results %TST spent with central apnoeas decreased with increasing age in both active sleep (AS) and quiet sleep (QS). TOI tended to be lower and cerebral fractional oxygen extraction higher at 3 months compared to the other studies and this reached statistical significance compared to 32–36 weeks in QS. Conclusion The nadir in cerebral tissue oxygenation at 3 months of age coincides with the peak risk period for SIDS and this may contribute to increased risk in these infants.
Yee et al. (Tue,) studied this question.