Atmungsverhalten von Säuglingen im Schlaf – eine Übersicht über den aktuellen Kenntnisstand anhand eigener Untersuchungsreihen.

The purpose of this paper is to confirm a hypothesis claiming that in clinically healthy term infants sleep-wake cycle development and maturation of breathing control – as objectivated in polysomnography – proceed in parallel. Irregular breathing movements as equivalent of Active (REM-)Sleep and paradoxical patterns of thoracic and abdominal breathing movements decrease in the first year of life whereas regular breathing movements – the equivalent of Quiet Sleep – and coordinated patterns of thoracic and abdominal breathing movements increase. With growing maturation, periodic breathing and the different kinds of respiratory pauses decrease. Deviations from normal respiratory phenomena were seen as well in sick and in preterm infants as in infants belonging to epidemiologically defined groups at high risk of Sudden Infant Death. Thus, breathing patterns were impaired by prematurity, after intrauterine exposure to nicotine and drugs, and during upper airway infections. At last, in prospective studies of infants,who subsequently died of sudden infant death, peculiar breathing behavior was described. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]