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Purpose: Pediatric brain tumor survivors have increased risk of sleep problems, particularly excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS). Few studies have examined sleep disturbances in this population., Methods: 153 children and adolescents ages 8-18 and their parents completed questionnaires (Modified Epworth Sleepiness Scale, Kosair Children's Hospital Sleep Questionnaire, Children's Report of Sleep Patterns, Children's Sleep Hygiene Scale) during clinic visits. Participants were at least 5 years from diagnosis and 2 years post-treatment. Group differences in age at diagnosis, body mass index, type of treatment received, and tumor location were examined., Results: One-third of adolescents and one-fifth of children reported EDS. Children and parents had fair concordance (kappa coefficient = .64) in their report of EDS, while adolescents and parents had poor concordance (kappa coefficient = .37). Per parents, most children slept 8 to 9 h per night. Poor bedtime routines were reported for children, while adolescents endorsed poor sleep stability. Extended weekend sleep was reported across age groups. A BMI in the obese range was related to higher parent-reported EDS in children. Sleep-disordered breathing was associated with elevated BMI in adolescents., Conclusions: While survivors reported achieving recommended amounts of sleep each night, 20 to 30% reported EDS. Poor concordance among parent and adolescent report highlights the importance of obtaining self-report when assessing sleep concerns. Obesity is a modifiable factor in reducing symptoms of EDS in this population. Finally, the lack of association between EDS and brain tumor location, BMI, or treatment received was unexpected and warrants further investigation.

Background: Improvements in treatment and management for pediatric central nervous system (CNS) tumors have increased survival rates, allowing clinicians to focus on long-term sequelae, including sleep disorders. The objective of this study was to describe a series of CNS tumor survivors who had sleep evaluations that included polysomnography (PSG) with attention to sleep disorder in relation to the tumor site., Procedure: We report on 31 patients who had retrievable reports including an overnight PSG; 17 also underwent multiple sleep latency tests (MSLT) to characterize their sleepiness., Results: Mean age at tumor diagnosis was 7.4 years, mean age at sleep referral 14.3 years, and a mean time between tumor diagnosis and sleep referral of 6.9 years. The most common tumor location was the suprasellar region, the most common reason for sleep referral was excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS), and the most common sleep diagnosis was obstructive sleep apnea (n = 14) followed by central sleep apnea (n = 4), hypersomnia due to medical condition (n = 4), and narcolepsy (n = 3). Twenty-six of the 31 subjects were obese/overweight, and among those with the concurrent complaint of EDS, the mean sleep latency on MSLT was 3.16 minutes, consistent with excessive sleepiness., Conclusions: Suprasellar region tumor survivors who are obese or overweight are more likely to have complaints of EDS and are at greater risk of sleep-disordered breathing. Sleep-related symptoms may not be recognized and referral initiated until years after CNS diagnosis. A periodic and thorough sleep history should be taken when caring for CNS tumor survivors., (Copyright © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Objective: Childhood sleep-disordered breathing has an adverse impact on cognitive development, behavior, quality of life, and use of health care resources. Early viral infections and other immune-mediated responses may contribute to development of the chronic inflammation of the upper airway and hypertrophic upper airway lymphadenoid tissues underlying childhood sleep-disordered breathing. Breastfeeding provides immunologic protection against such early exposures. Therefore, we sought to explore whether sleep-disordered breathing severity would differ for children who were breastfed as infants., Methods: The parents or guardians of 196 habitually snoring children (mean +/- SD: 6.7 +/- 2.9 years old) who were undergoing overnight polysomnography at Kosair Children's Hospital Sleep Medicine and Apnea Center completed a retrospective survey on the method(s) used to feed the child as an infant., Results: Among habitually snoring children, those who were fed breast milk for at least 2 months had significantly reduced sleep-disordered breathing severity on every measure assessed, including apnea-hypopnea index, oxyhemoglobin desaturation nadir, and respiratory arousal index. Breastfeeding for longer than 5 months did not contribute additional benefits., Conclusions: Our findings support the notion that breastfeeding may provide long-term protection against the severity of childhood sleep-disordered breathing. Future research should explore mechanism(s) whereby infant-feeding methods may affect the pathophysiology of development of childhood sleep-disordered breathing.

Sleep-disordered breathing in children has been associated with cognitive impairment. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy (T&A) on sleep, respiration and cognitive function in children of pre-school age with obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) from a low-income community population. Altogether, 19 children attending state-funded pre-school programmes underwent overnight polysomnography and cognitive assessment before and following surgical treatment for OSA; 19 matched controls were also assessed. Following T&A, OSA subjects' delta sleep increased, rapid eye movement sleep decreased, and respiratory and arousal indices improved. There were no significant differences in OSA subjects' post-operative sleep or respiratory measures compared to controls. Prior to T&A, cognitive scores were significantly lower in OSA subjects versus controls; following T&A, OSA subjects' scores improved compared to pre-operative scores and did not differ from those of matched controls. Following tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy, at-risk pre-schoolers recruited directly from the community showed normalised sleep and respiratory patterns and improved cognitive scores. These findings, in this uniquely vulnerable population, which is unlikely to seek evaluation and treatment for obstructive sleep apnoea, underscore the potential value of outreach screening programmes for sleep-disordered breathing, particularly among low-income groups of pre-school age.

Study Objectives: Snoring and sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) are highly prevalent among children. The increasing trends of obesity in the pediatric population further predict an exacerbation of this public health problem. However, the impact of SDB on mood and quality of life and the confounder effect of obesity in this setting are unclear., Design: We studied a group of 85 clinically referred children, aged 8 to 12 years, with snoring and suspected SDB and 35 asymptomatic children (controls). All children completed validated questionnaires for the presence of depression (Children's Depression Inventory) and for health-related quality of life (PedsQL), and parents completed the Parent Report version of the PedsQL. Children referred to the Sleep Medicine Center for sleep-disordered breathing were further subdivided according to their body mass index > 95% for age and sex (n = 44) and with BMI < 95% for age and sex as ClinN1 (n = 41)., Results: Parentally reported quality of life and physical health differed between obese and nonobese children. However, both groups with SDB had more-impaired quality of life and depressive symptoms than did controls., Conclusions: Children with suspected SDB, regardless of the severity of apnea-hypopnea index or the presence of obesity, had more impairments in quality of life and depressive symptoms than did children who did not snore.