New Methods to Separate Artifacts from Normal and Defective Breathing Patterns in Different Sleep-states, if Infants are Monitored at Home

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Abstract
Respiratory and cardiac monitoring was undertaken in the home for 7 mo. in an infant at increased risk for cot-death (SIDS, sudden infant death syndrome). The infant was a surviving non-identical twin of a SIDS sibling. In hospital, clinical and cardio-respiratory studies during sleep were normal. Analysis of eleven 24-h tape-recordings showed that many of the alarms at home were the result of technical problems. Suspected apneas were identified initially from an oscilloscopic display of the original waveforms and from a compressed-record and histogram of the computed breath-to-breath intervals. Expanded pen-recordings confirmed some, but not all, of these suspected apneas (> 15s). The results indicate the importance of verifying apneic episodes; the value of 24-h compressed recordings for identifying and timing the sleep cycles and their possible relationships to breathing defects; the need for improved instrumentation; the dangers of evaluating clinical prognosis or research from parental diaries.

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