Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Sleep Position: Does It Matter for Infants With a Cleft Palate?

Objective:To determine whether nonsupine sleep improves obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in infants with cleft palate undergoing polysomnography (PSG).Design:Retrospective chart review.Setting:Tertiary care pediatric hospital.Patients:Twenty-seven infants (1 month to 1 year) with cleft palate with or without cleft lip (CP ± L) undergoing PSG testing for suspected OSA were included.Main Outcome Measures:Polysomnography measures included obstructive apnea–hypopnea index (OAHI), central apnea–hypopnea index (CAHI), oxygen saturation (SpO2) nadir, SpO2, and end-tidal carbon dioxide (ETCO2).Results:Twenty-three PSGs with at least 20 minutes of sleep in both the supine and the nonsupine positions were analyzed. The supine OAHI (mean: 16.8 events/hour; standard deviation [SD]: 18.5) and nonsupine OAHI (mean: 12.6 events/hour; SD: 12.6) did not differ significantly ( P = .10). The supine CAHI (mean: 1.9 events/hour; SD: 2.7) and nonsupine CAHI (mean: 3.1 events/hour; SD: 3.7; P = .15), the supine SpO2nadir (mean: 81.2%; SD: 6.3) and nonsupine SpO2nadir (mean: 81.8%; SD: 5.3; P = .70), the supine mean SpO2(mean: 95.5%; SD: 1.9) and nonsupine mean SpO2saturation (mean: 95.3%; SD: 2.4; P = .34), and the supine ETCO2(mean: 45.4 mm Hg; SD: 5.3) and nonsupine ETCO2(mean: 42.5 mm Hg; SD: 10.1; P = .24) were also similar.Conclusions:There were no significant improvements in OSA metrics during nonsupine sleep in infants with CP ± L. Prior to recommending nonsupine positioning which increases infant’s exposure to sudden infant death syndrome risk, we advocate obtaining a PSG to verify an objective improvement in OSA.