• Sleep Medicine and Psychophysiology
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.71-76
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• 2008

Introduction: In this study, we compared sleep structure, EEG characteristic of pediatric obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and normal controls which were matched in sex and age. Methods: Fifteen children (male：female=4：11) who complained snoring and were suspected to have sleep apnea and their age and sex matched normal controls (male：female=5：10) have been done nocturnal polysomnography (NPSG). Sleep parameters, sleep apnea variables and relative spectral components of EEG from NPSG have been compared between both groups. Results: Pediatric OSA group were distinguished from normal controls in terms of apnea index, respiratory disturbance index and nadir of oxyhemoglobulin desaturation. Pediatric OSA group showed increased percent of sleep stage 1, decreased rapid eye movement sleep percent and increased delta power in O1 EEG channel. However other sleep parameters and spectral powers were not different between two groups. Conclusion: In pediatric OSA group, sleep structure parameter disruption may be not prominent as the previous studies for adult OSA group because of including mild OSA data in diagnostic criteria. In addition, EEG changes might not be distinct due to low arousal index compared to adult OSA patients. We can observe general characteristics and particularity of pediatric OSA through this study.

• Sleep Medicine and Psychophysiology
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.106-109
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• 2004

Adenotonsillar hypertrophy is the leading cause of childhood obstructive sleep apnea. Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome in childhood, however, can occur from various causes such as obesity or craniofacial abnormalities. Childhood obstructive sleep apnea syndrome can be accompanied by enuresis, parasomnias and behavior problems. For patients with the symptoms of snoring and apnea, obstructive sleep apnea should be suspected and diagnosed properly. In addition, the evaluation of complications and proper treatment are indispensable. When the cause of childhood obstructive sleep apnea is adenotonsillar hypertrophy, symptoms can be improved by surgical methods. If the cause is other than adenotonsillar hypertrophy, such as obesity, it should be treated with other therapeutic modalities, like nasal continuous positive airway pressure (nCPAP), weight reduction and modification of life style. This paper reports a case of nCPAP used to manage severe sleep apnea when it was not resolved after adenoidectomy and tonsillectomy. Differential diagnosis of narcolepsy in a case with excessive daytime sleepiness and reflections on accompanying enuresis and parasomnia were also described.

• Sleep Medicine and Psychophysiology
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.74-78
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• 2009

Objective: It has been reported that the sleep apnea syndrome in the asthmatic patients is prevalent, however, the systematic study in this field using polysomnography has rarely been performed. The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) and the pulmonary function in asthmatic children. Methods: This study enrolled 19 male and 12 female asthmatic children aged 6-13 years (average $8.2{\pm}1.7$ years old). Complete overnight polysomnography and pulmonary function test were performed for the participants. Results: Of the 31 asthmatic children, 21 (67.7%) met the diagnostic criteria of the pediatric sleep apnea and the average AHI was $1.7{\pm}1.5/h$. The children with higher AHI showed poorer pulmonary function ($FEV_1$/FVC ratio: p=0.002, $FEV_1$%pred: p=0.047). Conclusion: These results suggest that the prevalence of the pediatric sleep apnea could be very high among the asthmatic children and the severity of the sleep apnea correlates with the pulmonary function. However, the case-control study to compare the AHI between the asthma and control groups is absolutely necessary because few normative data are available for the children.

• Sleep Medicine and Psychophysiology
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.50-54
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• 2004

The obstructive sleep apnea syndrome can occur due to various etiologies in children. In otherwise healthy children, adenotonsillar hypertrophy is the leading cause of childhood obstuctive sleep apnea. Obstructive sleep apnea caused by adenotonsillar hypertrophy can lead to a variety of symptoms and sequelae such as behavioral disturbance, enuresis, failure to thrive, developmental delay, cor pulmonale, and hypertension. So if obstructive sleep apnea is clinically suspected, proper treatment should be administered to the patient after diagnostic examinations. More than 80% improvement is seen in symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea caused by adenotonsillar hypertrophy in children after tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy. However, when it is impossible to treat the patient using surgical methods or residual symptoms remained after tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy, additional treatments such as weight control, sleep position change, and continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), should be considered. This paper reports a case using weight control and Auto-PAP to control mild sleep apnea and snoring, which in long-term follow-up were not resolved after tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy for severe obstructive sleep apnea.

• Sleep Medicine and Psychophysiology
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.77-81
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• 2020

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a sleep-related breathing disorder in which narrowing and obstruction of the upper airway lead to frequent arousal and decreased arterial oxygenation during sleep. OSA is more common in children with genetic disorders like achondroplasia compared to children without genetic disorders. Achondroplasia is genetic disorder characterized by hypoplasia of the facial bone and skull base with foramen magnum stenosis, resulting in exceedingly high frequency of OSA. The authors present a case of a patient with achondroplasia diagnosed with severe OSA through polysomnography after adenectomy showed little therapeutic effect and who was treated with continuous positive airway pressure.

• Sleep Medicine and Psychophysiology
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.41-49
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• 2010

Unlike the case of adult obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS), there was no consistent finding on the changes of sleep architecture in childhood OSAS. Further understanding of the sleep electroencephalogram (EEG) should be needed. Non-linear analysis of EEG is particularly useful in giving us a new perspective and in understanding the brain system. The objective of the current study is to compare the sleep architecture and the scaling exponent (${\alpha}$) from detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA) on sleep EEG between OSAS and normal children. Fifteen normal children (8 boys/7 girls, 6.0${\pm}4.3$2.2 years old) and twelve OSAS children (10 boys/2 girls, 6.4${\pm}4.3$3.4 years old) were studied with polysomnography (PSG). Sleep-related variables and OSAS severity indices were obtained. Scaling exponent of DFA were calculated from the EEG channels (C3/A2, C4/A1, O1/A2, and O2/A1), and compared between normal and OSAS children. No difference in sleep architecture was found between OSAS and normal controls except stage 1 sleep (%) and REM sleep latency (min). Stage 1 sleep (%) was significantly higher and REM latency was longer in OSAS group (9.3${\pm}4.3$4.3%, 181.5${\pm}4.3$59.9 min) than in controls (5.6${\pm}4.3$2.8%, 133.5${\pm}4.3$42.0 min). Scaling exponent (${\alpha}$) showed that sleep EEG of OSAS children also followed the 'longrange temporal correlation' characteristics. Value of ${\alpha}$ increased as sleep stages increased from stage 1 to stage 4. Value of ${\alpha}$ from C3/A2, C4/A1, O1/A2, O2/A1 were significantly lower in OSAS than in control (1.36${\pm}4.3$0.05 vs. 1.41${\pm}4.3$0.04, 1.37${\pm}4.3$0.04 vs. 1.41${\pm}4.3$0.04, 1.37${\pm}4.3$0.05 vs. 1.41${\pm}4.3$0.05, and 1.36${\pm}4.3$0.07 vs. 1.41${\pm}4.3$0.05, p<0.05). Higher stage 1 sleep (%) in OSAS children was consistent finding with OSAS adults. Lower $'{\alpha}'$ in OSAS children suggests decrease of self-organized criticality or the decreased piling-up energy of brain system during sleep in OSAS children.

• Journal of the korean academy of Pediatric Dentistry
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.38-47
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• 2019

The most common cause of mouth breathing is obstacles caused by mechanical factors in upper airway. Mouth breathing could be consequently pathological cause of sleep-disordered breathing. Sleep-disordered breathing in children can cause growth disorders and behavioral disorders. The purpose of this study was to investigate relationship between upper airway and sleep-disordered breathing in children with mouth breathing. Twenty boys between 7 - 9 years old who reported to have mouth breathing in questionnaire were evaluated with clinical examination, questionnaires, lateral cephalometric radiographs, and portable sleep testing. This study assessed apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) and oxygen desaturation index (ODI) for the evaluation of sleep-disordered breathing and was done to investigate the correlation between these values and the upper airway width measured by lateral cephalometric radiographs. There was no significant correlation with the size of the tonsils (p = 0.921), but the adenoid hypertrophy was higher in the abnormal group than in the normal group (p = 0.008). In the classification according to AHI and ODI, retropalatal and retroglossal distance showed a statistically significant decrease in the abnormal group compared to the normal group (p = 0.002, p = 0.001). As AHI and ODI increased, upper airway width tended to be narrower. This indicates that mouth breathing could affect the upper airway, which is related to sleep quality.

• Sleep Medicine and Psychophysiology
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.94-99
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• 2008

The most common cause of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) in childhood is adenotonsillar hypertrophy. Adenotonsillectomy improves the symptoms quite well in most cases. However, some patients could experience the OSAS again after adenotonsillectomy, who might have several risk factors such as incomplete operation, misdiagnosis, combined anatomical malformation, sinusitis or chronic allergic rhinitis, obesity, initial severe OSAS, and early onset OSAS. We report a case of 11-year-old obese boy who presented with snoring for several years. He was obese with body mass index (BMI) of $26.3kg/m^2$ and also found to have fatty liver by ultrasonogram. Initial polysomnography (PSG) showed that he met the criteria of severe OSAS with the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) of 70.5. He underwent adenotonsillectomy and symptoms improved immediately. Four months later symptoms were relieved with AHI of 0, but 1 year after the adenotonsillectomy he started to complain snoring again and the subsequent PSG results showed that OSAS has relapsed with AHI of 43. Paranasal sinus X-ray and physical examination showed sinusitis and re-growth of adenoid. Obesity was proved not to be a contributing factor because his BMI decreased to normal range ($23.1kg/m^2$) after diet control and regular exercise. Also, liver transaminase was normalized and fatty liver was disappeared on follow-up abdominal ultrasonogram. After treatment of sinusitis, symptoms were relieved with decreased AHI (8.5). This case suggests that simple adenotonsillectomy might not be the end of OSAS treatment in childhood. Patients who had adenotonsillectomy should be followed by subsequent PSG if symptoms recur. It is also important to be aware of risk factors in the recurrent OSAS for the proper intervention according to the cause.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.97-104
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• 2015

Sleep is not only an essential physiological function, but also serves important roles in promoting growth, maturation, and overall health of humans. There is increasing interest regarding the impact of sleep and its disorders on the regulation of inflammatory processes and end-organ morbidities, particularly in the context of metabolic and cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and their complications. Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) is an increasingly common health problem in children. In the last decade, the emergence of increasing obesity rates has further led to remarkable increases in the prevalence of OSAS, along with more prominent neurocognitive, behavioral, cardiovascular and metabolic morbidities. Although the underlying mechanisms leading to OSAS-induced morbidities are likely multifactorial and remain to be fully elucidated, activation of inflammatory pathways by OSAS has emerged as an important pathophysiological component of the end-organ injury associated with this disorder. To this effect, it would appear that OSAS could be viewed as a chronic, low-grade inflammatory disorder. Furthermore, the concurrent presence of obesity and OSAS poses a theoretically increased risk of OSAS-related complications. In this study, we will critically review the current state of research regarding the impact of insufficient and disrupted sleep and OSAS on the immune processes and inflammatory pathways that underlie childhood OSAS as a distinctive systemic inflammatory condition in children, and will explore potential interactions between OSAS and obesity.

• Journal of the korean academy of Pediatric Dentistry
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.357-367
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• 2022

Sleep disordered breathing (SDB) is a disease characterized by repeated hypopnea and apnea during sleep due to complete or partial obstruction of upper airway. The prevalence of pediatric SDB is approximately 12 - 15%, and the most common age group is preschool children aged 3 - 5 years. Children show more varied presentations, from snoring and frequent arousals to enuresis and hyperactivity. The main cause of pediatric SDB is obstruction of the upper airway related to enlarged tonsils and adenoids. If SDB is left untreated, it can cause complications such as learning difficulties, cognitive impairment, behavioral problems, cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome, and poor growth. Pediatric dentists are in a special position to identify children at risk for SDB. Pediatric dentists recognize clinical features related to SDB, and they should screen for SDB by using the pediatric sleep questionnaire (PSQ), lateral cephalometry radiograph, and portable sleep monitoring test and refer to sleep specialists. As a therapeutic approach, maxillary arch expansion treatment, mandible advancement device, and lingual frenectomy can be performed. Pediatric dentists should recognize that prolonged mouth breathing, lower tongue posture, and ankyloglossia can cause abnormal facial skeletal growth patterns and sleep problems. Pediatric dentists should be able to prevent these problems through early intervention.