Apparent life-threatening events: assessment, risks, reality

Effect of a standardized approach on infants hospitalized for apparent life threatening events

Introduction: An apparent life-threatening event (ALTE) is a frequent cause of hospitalization in infants. However, there is little evidence about the existence of a standardized approach to discover the main etiology, although a correct causal diagnosis can affect clinical evolution, hospital stay, and health resources. Objective: To determine the effects of a standardized diagnostic approach in infants admitted with ALTE. Materials and methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study with the data collected from clinical records of infants hospitalized for ALTE in the pediatric unit between 2002 and 2009. Two cohorts of patients were analyzed according to the procedures defined for these cases: Cohort 1 with clinical guidelines and cohort 2 with clinical guidelines, study protocol, and outpatient follow-up. Etiological causes, hospitalization periods and readmission rates were compared between both cohorts. Results: Of the 255 infants hospitalized for ALTE, 57.6% corresponded to cohort 1 and 42.3% to cohort 2. No differences were observed in age and gender between groups. The highest percentage of attributed causes (63.9 vs 87.0%; p<0.0001) and a shorter period of hospitalization (8.0 vs 5.0 days; p=0, 0001) were observed in cohort 2. No differences in hospital readmission were observed (10.5 vs 8.3 days; p=0.7435). Conclusions: The protocol-based approach for infants with EAL was associated with a higher percentage of recognition of attributed causes and a shorter hospitalization period. Therefore, our results allow recommending this type of standardization for the management of these patients.

Apparent Life-Threatening Events (ALTE): Italian guidelines

Five years after the first edition, we have revised and updated the guidelines, re-examining the queries and relative recommendations, expanding the issues addressed with the introduction of a new entity, recently proposed by the American Academy of Pediatrics: BRUE, an acronym for Brief Resolved Unexplained Events. In this manuscript we will use the term BRUE only to refer to mild, idiopathic cases rather than simply replace the acronym ALTE per se.In our guidelines the acronym ALTE is used for severe cases that are unexplainable after the first and second level examinations.Although the term ALTE can be used to describe the common symptoms at the onset, whenever the aetiology is ascertained, the final diagnosis may be better specified as seizures, gastroesophageal reflux, infection, arrhythmia, etc. Lastly, we have addressed the emerging problem of the so-called Sudden Unexpected Postnatal Collapse (SUPC), that might be considered as a severe ALTE occurring in the first week of life.

Independent risk factors for recurrence of apparent life-threatening events in infants

The risk factors for recurrent apparent life-threatening event (ALTE) are unclear although the risk of recurrent ALTE is an important consideration for the management of ALTE patients. This study aimed to identify the risk factors for recurrent ALTE. We conducted a secondary analysis of the data from a single center retrospective cohort study in Japan conducted from March 2002 to January 2012, which included children diagnosed with ALTE at a pediatric emergency department (ED) in Tokyo. Among 112 ALTE patients, 18 (16%) had recurrences and 94 (84%) did not. Symptoms of respiratory tract infection (RTI) were more frequent in the recurrent group than in the non-recurrent group (44 vs. 14% p = 0.0055), and the proportion of patients triaged as level 1 was larger in the recurrent group than in the non-recurrent group (31 vs. 7%, p = 0.0312). Pallor was observed more frequently in the recurrent group than in the non-recurrent group (100 vs. 76%, p = 0.0216). Multivariate analysis demonstrated that the independent risk factors of recurrent ALTE were respiratory tract infection symptoms (OR, 5.02; 95% CI, 1.48-16.98).

CONCLUSION

ALTE patients who had RTI symptoms at the ED visit for first ALTE should be admitted for close observation of potential recurrences. What is Known: • Approximately 10% of ALTE patients experienced recurrence of ALTE episodes. • The risk of recurrent ALTE is one of the major consideration for the management of ALTE patients at the ED because these patients have higher rates of serious underlying diseases which require interventions. What is New: • Respiratory infection symptoms at ED presentation can be independent risk factors for recurrent ALTE.

Apparent life-threatening events could be a wake-up call for sleep disordered breathing

INTRODUCTION

Polysomnographic recordings of children with an apparent life-threatening event (ALTE) have often displayed signs of partial or complete obstruction during sleep. Various studies have focused on facial dysmorphia in infants with ALTE and tried to establish a correlation between ALTE and obstructive sleep apnoea. Our study evaluates the phenotypic characteristics and the presence of sleep disorders in pre-school children who had at least one ALTE in the first year of life.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We analyzed a group of pre-school children (mean age 5.21 ± 0.90 years) who were referred for an ALTE between 2008 and 2010. Children with no history of ALTEs were recruited as a control group. A detailed personal and family history was obtained for all the participants. Moreover, all the children underwent a general clinical examination and an ear, nose, and throat and orthodontic assessment. A clinical score was calculated according to the previously validated Sleep Clinical Record (SCR).

RESULTS

In the ALTE group (n = 107), snoring (25.2% vs. 6.1%), apnoeas (19.6% vs. 4.3%), restless sleep (31.7% vs. 6.1%), and habitual mouth breathing (35.5% vs. 12.2%, P < 0.05) were significantly more common (P < 0.05) than in the control group (n = 115). The ALTE group also displayed a higher frequency of Angle class II (27.1% vs. 15.7%, P < 0.05), narrow palate (72.9% vs. 51.3%, P < 0.05), and Friedman palate position (grades III-IV) (31.7% vs. 16.6%, P < 0.05) than the control group. Moreover, 38/107 (35.5%) children in the ALTE group had a positive SCR score compared with 14/115 controls (12.2%) (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Pre-school age children with previous ALTE had a higher frequency of sleep disordered breathing and malocclusion phenotypes. The occurrence of ALTEs may be predictive of the development of sleep disordered breathing and highlight the importance of a long-term follow-up. Pediatr Pulmonol. 2016;51:1403-1408. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Relationship between the Clinical Characteristics and Intervention Scores of Infants with Apparent Life-threatening Events

We investigated the clinical presentations, diagnostic and therapeutic modalities, and prognosis from follow-up of infants with apparent life-threatening events (ALTE). In addition, the relationship between the clinical characteristics of patients and significant intervention scores was analyzed. We enrolled patients younger than 12 months who were diagnosed with ALTE from January 2005 to December 2012. There were 29 ALTE infants with a peak incidence of age younger than 1 month (48.3%). The most common symptoms for ALTE diagnosis were apnea (69.0%) and color change (58.6%). Eleven patients appeared normal upon arrival at hospital but 2 patients required cardiopulmonary resuscitation during the initial ALTE. The most common ALTE cause was respiratory disease, including respiratory infection and upper airway anomalies (44.8%). There were 20 cases of repeat ALTE and 2 cases of death during hospitalization. Four patients (15.4%) experienced recurrence of ALTE after discharge and 4 patients (15.4%) showed developmental abnormalities during the follow-up period. The patients with ALTE during sleep had lower significant intervention scores (P=0.015) compared to patients with ALTE during wakefulness and patients with previous respiratory symptoms had higher significant intervention scores (P=0.013) than those without previous respiratory symptoms. Although not statistically significant, there was a weak positive correlation between the patient's total ALTE criteria and total significant intervention score (Fig. 2, r=0.330, P=0.080). We recommend that all ALTE infants undergo inpatient observation and evaluations with at least 24 hr of cardiorespiratory monitoring, and should follow up at least within a month after discharge.

The role of physiological studies and apnoea monitoring in infants

There is evidence that failure of cardio-respiratory control mechanisms plays a role in the final event of the Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). Physiological studies during sleep in both healthy term born infants and those at increased risk for SIDS have been widely used to investigate how the major risk and protective factors for SIDS identified from epidemiological studies might alter infant physiology. Clinical polysomnography (PSG) in infants who eventually succumbed to SIDS however demonstrated abnormalities that were neither sufficiently distinctive nor predictive to support routine use of PSG for infants at risk for SIDS. PSG findings have also been shown to be not predictive of recurrence of Apparent Life Threatening Events (ALTE) and thus international guidelines state that PSG is not indicated for routine evaluation in infants with an uncomplicated ALTE, although PSG may be indicated when there is clinical evidence of a sleep related breathing disorder. A decision to undertake home apnoea monitoring should consider the potential advantages and disadvantages of monitoring for that individual, in the knowledge that there is no evidence of the efficacy of such devices in preventing SIDS.