Airway Obstruction in Premature Newborns: A Missing Link

To the Editor .— We read with interest the January 2005 Pediatrics article by Marlier et al,1 who evaluated the therapeutic value of pleasant odor in the treatment of neonatal apneas unresponsive to caffeine and doxapram. In the Marlier et al study, “cessation in breathing movements >20 seconds” was used to define central apnea. Recent evidence suggests that obstruction of the airway is frequently present in these so-called central apneas.2 Idiong et al3 analyzed >4000 apneas in preterm neonates …