I had a question for you folks which wasn't anwered (maybe because it was buried in a thread).  In adults, an AHI less than 4 is usually not treated.  Is it different for kids?  Someone (Susanne ?) was worried about an AHI around 1.7.

Thanks!

Vicki


_________________
That which does not kill you makes you stronger-Friedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich must of had apnea.

Vicki-
The only resource I could offer is from this thread here:
http://www.apneasupport.org/viewtopic.php?t=8669

where the sleep doctor for a 13 year-old indicates that an RDI of over 1.0 warranted intervention. I am totally not sure whether this is one doctor's opinion or an accepted standard or a common but not firmly established.

Best wishes,
Bill

Hi Vicki,

Sorry about not answering your question under the other thread, things are not going very well with Chris......

About the AHI in kids, pulmo #2 (director of the pedi-sleep lab) said that her goal for Chris would be to have an AHI of 0.0-0.5 on Cpap.  She never said why it should be so low.  My best understanding is that  low O2 levels in kids is quite damaging to their CNS and their bodies in general, not to mention the adrenelin rush that comes with apnea.  Apparently kid are sensitive to the damaging effects of apnea because they are still growing.  I read an article in the Chest Journal where they were testing to see how many apneas "normal" children were having.  These kids were had no known indicators of apnea--excess weight, craniofacial abnormalities, neurological conditions, enlarged tonsils or adenoids, or snoring--.  They found out that only a few of the "normal" kids had any apnea events at all, and none of the kids that showed an apnea or hypopnea had more than 2 or 3 a night.  (please don't quote me on this, I am doing this from a sleep deprived memory).  So it is apparently quite abnormal for kids to have more than a few episodes/night (Chris was having 200 on her first study) so the goal of the cpap is to get the "apnea" kids to the same level of incidents as the "normal" kids.

Chris goes back to the pulmo (#3) tomorrow so I will ask him specifically to make sure my info is correct (he is board certified in pedi-pulmo and pedi-sleep so he should have a reasonable answer)

Again, sorry for not answering sooner.....

Susanne and Chris...my mini-hosehead with 1155 hours on cpap and still going......

Susanne,

Thanks for the answer and let me know what the doc. says.  Kids and adults are so different!!  What is up with Chris?  Is her asthma out of control?  I remember the struggle you had with finding good docs. and at least it sounds like that part is going well.

Vicki


_________________
That which does not kill you makes you stronger-Friedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich must of had apnea.

Hi Vicki,

Sorry but I forgot to ask the pulmo about apnea.......I was very irritated (putting it nicely) that they (the nurse) cancelled her apt without telling me and then treated me like I was stupid for bringing her in for a cancelled apt.  Chris has been having a lot of trouble with asthma the last week or so, her lung function was 70% of the predicted value and only went up to 79% after a breathing treatment.......This nurse is clueless about apnea/cpaps she keeps asking if Chris is coughing at night----I keep telling the same nurse over and over that Chris can't really cough (I have only heard her cough a total of 3 times in the last 118 days....all the coughs were within the last week).  I can't wait untill she realized that I am not stupid - I know when Chris is in trouble and that Chris is not a typical patient....however by the time that happens he** may have frozen over.  

I like the pulmo very much and feel he has Chris's best intrests at heart, but the nurse is a royal pain in the ***.  The pulmo said she should have her sleep study by the end of the month.  I wonder if the cpap is at all responsible for her current breathing issues-bronchitis or pneumonia.....

Susanne

Can you tell I am a little bit frustrated with medical people right now?????  Sorry if I have gone off the deep end but this nurse is dumb and I am sleep deprived from middle of the night asthma treatments.