Now that there's a little more activity on this forum, I was hoping to get some thoughts on the results of my sons first sleep study.  He had a second one as well with very similar results.  He was supposed to do a titration study with a cpap but he didn't tolerate the mask at all and the doctor doesn't know what to do.  He's not a candidate for surgical procedures, or oral appliances.  The bi pap seems to be the best way to go but if he won't tolerate it I don't know what else to do.  

Does anyone know the significance of an AHI of 10.7 in a 4 year old??  Mild, moderate, etc??  His sats do drop below 90, but he always recovers on his own.  His tonsils and adenoids have already been removed (temporarily helped w/apnea), and he has a pre-existing connective tissue disorder (Ehlers Danlos syndrome, hypermobility type) that causes him to heal slowly.  If this was your child, would you be concerned about them sleeping w/out a cpap??  Are there any other options??

I'm sure that I've forgotten something in this post....  Please feel free to ask any questions.  I believe that we can sometimes learn best through the questions and shared experiences of others and I welcome any and all input.  Thanks!!


Abnormal Respiratory Events:

total abnormal respiratory events...287
apnea/hypopnea index...10.7/hr
respiratory disturbance index...35.3/hr
mean duration of apnea/hypopnea...8.4 seconds
longest obstructive event...31.6 seconds
overall mean oxygen saturation...93.5
lowest oxygen saturation during obstructive events...85.0

Types of abnormal respiratory events:

Obstructive apneas...6
obstructive hypopneas...26
central apneas...55
respiratory effort arousals...200

Sleep time in stages:

(n1) 2.3%  (n2) 36.8%  (n3) 42.5%  (r) 17.9%

sleep efficiency 98.8  rem latency 73.5

From what I understand (and I can provide links if necessary), OSA can be diagnosed in children with a AHI of 1 or higher (1 event per hour) and desaturations into the 92% range. At least that is the criteria we use in the office that I work at.

Here is what I came across, for scaling purposes:

MILD - RDI between 1-5 without falls in oxygen saturation.

MODERATE - RDI between 5-10 and desats less than 85

MODERATE TO SEVERE - RDI > 10 with desats less than 85

The saturations are also significant, even though he recovers on his own. Children generally do recover very quickly. In fact, their saturations are pretty resilient and events can be scored with as little as a 1.5-2% decrease from baseline.

If your doctor is NOT concerned with the central apneas, then recalculate the AHI only using the obstructive events. That may give you a better feel for the problem, but again only if the physician has written off the centrals.

Hope this helps somewhat.