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Background: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a common problem in children and can result in developmental and cognitive complications if untreated. The gold-standard tool for diagnosis is polysomnography (PSG); however, it is an expensive and time-consuming test to undertake. Overnight oximetry has been suggested as a faster and cheaper initial test in comparison to PSG as it can be performed at home using limited, reusable equipment., Aim: This retrospective case control study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a home oximetry service (implemented in response to extended waiting times for routine PSG) in reducing the time between patient referral and treatment., Methods: Patients undergoing diagnostic sleep evaluation for suspected OSA who utilized the Queensland Children's Hospital screening home oximetry service in the first year since its inception in 2021 (n = 163) were compared to a historical group of patients who underwent PSG in 2018 (n = 311). Parameters compared between the two groups included time from sleep physician review to sleep test, ENT review, and definitive treatment in the form of adenotonsillectomy surgery (or CPAP initiation for those who had already undergone surgery)., Results: The time from sleep physician review and request of the sleep-related study to ENT surgical treatment was significantly reduced (187 days for the HITH oximetry group vs 359 days for the comparable PSG group; p-value <0.05), and time from sleep study request to the report of results was significantly lower for patients in the oximetry group compared to those in the PSG group (11 days vs 105 days; p-value <0.05)., Conclusion: These results suggest that for children referred to a tertiary sleep center for possible obstructive sleep disordered breathing, a home oximetry service can be effective in assisting sleep evaluation and reducing the time to OSA treatment., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To determine the variability of overnight oximetry parameters in a group of normal, healthy term infants; to enable the calculation of the number of subjects required to produce reliable reference ranges for neonatal overnight oximetry., Methods: A convenience sample of normal, healthy term neonates was recruited. Each had overnight oximetry using the Masimo SET Radical oximeter (data downloaded using Profox software). The report included the number of oxygen desaturation events (an absolute decrease in SpO 2 of 4 or more), and the duration of oxygen saturations <90%., Results: 21 babies were recruited with data available from 19. 32% were female; 68% born by vaginal delivery; 37% fully breast feeding, 53% bottle and 11% by a combination of both. The mean (SD) GA was 39.2 (0.79) weeks, the mean (SD) BW was 3477 (240) grams. The median (IQR) post-natal age at the time the oximetry recording started was 31 (28-41) hours; four babies were <24 h old. All babies had some desaturation events ranging from 4 to 36 times per hour. On average babies spent 3.0% (SD 2.3) of the time with an SpO 2  < 90% (range 0.12-7.94)., Conclusions: In a cohort of healthy term neonates, as assessed by overnight oximetry, the mean SpO 2 was 97% (SD 1, range 95-99). All neonates had a number of oxygen desaturation events ranging from 4 to 36 per hour. The mean proportion of time spent with oxygen saturations below 90% was around 3%., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Aim: The aims of this study are: (i) to survey the knowledge of paediatric clinicians using overnight continuous pulse oximetry data to guide management of infants with chronic neonatal lung disease (CNLD); (ii) to assess the ability of paediatric clinicians to interpret overnight continuous pulse oximetry data; and (iii) to describe the overnight oximetry interpretation practices of paediatric respiratory specialists.Methods: Paediatric clinicians from three tertiary teaching hospitals completed an anonymous survey regarding overnight continuous pulse oximetry in chronic neonatal lung disease. Using a modified Delphi technique, paediatric respiratory specialists participated in a concordance exercise and discussions to establish consensus interpretations for 25 oximetry studies. Paediatric clinicians were invited to complete the same exercise as a comparison.Results: Self-rated knowledge from 74 surveyed clinicians was proportional to clinical experience. Twenty paediatric clinicians and nine paediatric respiratory specialists completed the oximetry exercise with scores of 64% (κ = 0.25) and 80% (κ = 0.45), respectively. Individual parameters like a mean peripheral arterial haemoglobin saturation (SpO2 ) below 93% and percentage time spent below SpO2 93% correlated poorly with the consensus interpretations. Paediatric respiratory specialists instead relied on visual analysis of SpO2 waveforms, utilising the frequency and depth of desaturations to guide management.Conclusion: Interpretation of overnight oximetry data is variable amongst both paediatric clinicians and respiratory specialists. This likely reflects inadequate evidence defining clinically significant intermittent hypoxaemia, whether in terms of desaturation duration, frequency or nadir. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]