Objective: Adenoidal hypertrophy in children is associated with obstructive manifestations like mouth breathing, snoring, night cough. However, the sleep architecture is poorly defined in children with AH, which is this studies for.
Method: A computer-assistant diagnostic system was used for polysomnography (PSG) recording. Sleep was scored manually according to the standard set by Rechtschaffen. 47 children with adenotonsillar hypertrophy (AH) were defined by PSG and compared with normal children PSG results.
Result: (1) Compared with normal children, AH group had increased stage I: (15. 4 +/- 9.3)% vs (7.9 +/- 6.8)% (P < 0.01) and decreased stage II: (41.8 +/- 9.7)% vs (46.7 +/- 7.6)% (P < 0.01); increased Delta (26.2 +/- 10.6)% vs (23.3 +/- 8.7) % (P > 0.05); obviously decreased in REM: (7.7 +/- 4.9)% vs (27.3 +/- 5.6)% (P < 0.01); NREM (83.33%) was increasingly; (2) AH group had increased Arousal Index(ARI) 32.8 +/- 26.03 vs 18.3 +/- 12.2 (P < 0.05); (3) The latent period of REM was (157.1 +/- 71.4) min and about two times long as normal children.
Conclusion: Sleep architecture is abnormal in children with AH. Frequent electroencephalogram arousals from sleep may result in significant sleep fragmentation,but the deep sleep is sufficient. Further studies are needed to determine whether abnormalities in sleep architecture contribute to quality of life.