Central apnea after adenotonsillectomy in childhood: case report

Persistent High Residual AHI After CPAP Use

ABSTRACT

Treatment-emergent central sleep apnea has recently been noted after various treatment modalities for obstructive sleep apnea. It often remits spontaneously or can be treated with continuous positive airway pressure. However, we encountered a pediatric patient with obstructive sleep apnea who presented with severe complications, including growth failure, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, poor school performance, daytime sleepiness, and urinary difficulty that required permanent cystostomy. His obstructive sleep apnea resolved after adenotonsillectomy. However, treatment-emergent central sleep apnea developed after adenotonsillectomy and was further aggravated after continuous positive airway pressure and bilevel positive airway pressure without a backup respiratory rate use. After bilevel positive airway pressure with a backup respiratory rate treatment for 3 months initially, all his symptoms improved, except growth failure. Later, after adaptive servoventilation was used for 10 months, the patient's growth began to improve.

Clinical variables determining the success of adenotonsillectomy in children with Down syndrome

OBJECTIVES

To evaluate the evolution of polysomnographic parameters of children with Down syndrome and obstructive sleep apnea syndrome submitted to adenotonsillectomy and the interaction of comorbidities on therapeutic outcome.

METHODS

Ninety patients with Down syndrome and habitual snoring were identified between 2005 and 2015 in a Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology Clinic. Parent's complaints were evaluated by the test of equality of two proportions. Wilcoxon test was used to examine pre- and post-operative polysomnographic differences. Mann-Whitney test evaluated the influence of comorbidities. A p < 0.05 was considered significant.

RESULTS

A total of 27 patients met the inclusion criteria (55.6% patients were males; mean (SD) age were 6.7 (3.6) years (range, 1.5-16 years). Significant improvement of parent's complaints (p < 0.001), arousal index (p = 0.045), and minimum oxygen saturation were observed post-adenotonsillectomy (p = 0.034). Adenotonsillectomy was able to resolve obstructive sleep apnea syndrome in 29.6% of children with Down syndrome. Nineteen patients (70.4%) remained with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome and 44.4% showed a reduction of at least 50% of obstructive apnea-hypopnea index. Central apnea index post-adenotonsillectomy was worse in patients with heart disease (p = 0.022). Sleep efficiency (p = 0.031), N1 sleep stage (p = 0.001), apnea-hypopnea index (p = 0.023), and central apnea index (p = 0.008) were worse after surgery in patients with hypothyroidism. Patients with severe OSAS showed significant improvement in polysomnographic parameters after surgery.

CONCLUSION

Although adenotonsillectomy improved symptoms and objective sleep data in children with Down syndrome, it was not able to resolve obstructive sleep apnea syndrome in most patients. Congenital heart diseases and hypothyroidism may affect the outcome.