The relationship of breathing pattern to central chemoreceptor activity in infantile apnea.

In order to assess the relationship of breathing pattern to the central chemoreceptor activity in infantile apnea, we studied 18 infants referred to our regional apnea center with 12 hour nocturnal pneumocardiograms and ventilatory response to 2% and 4% carbon dioxide inhalation. 70% of the infants had normal pneumocardiograms and 60% of the infants had normal ventilatory response to CO2. Nine infants (45%) had normal results in both tests. Our results indicate that in infants with a normal breathing pattern as assessed by pneumocardiogram 75% had normal central chemoreceptor activity, while 37.5% of infants with abnormal breathing pattern had abnormal ventilatory response to CO2.