Prematurity and postnatal alterations in intermittent hypoxaemia.

Intermittent hypoxaemia (IH) events are well described in extremely preterm infants, but the occurrence of IH patterns in more mature preterm infants remains unclear. The objective of this study was to characterise the effect of gestational age on early postnatal patterns of IH in extremely (<28 weeks), very (28-<32 weeks) and moderately (32-<34 weeks) preterm infants. As expected, extremely preterm infants had a significantly higher frequency of IH events of longer durations and greater time with hypoxaemia versus very and moderately preterm infants. In addition, the postnatal decrease in IH duration was comparable in the very and moderately preterm infants. This progression of IH events should assist clinicians and families in managing expectations for resolution of IH events during early postnatal life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]