Central Hypoventilation and Brainstem Dysgenesis

Abstract

We report on a newborn with congenital hypotonia, unilateral facial palsy, sucking and swallowing difficulties, velopalatine incoordination, and unilateral impairment of the auditory brainstem responses, attributable to brainstem dysgenesis. On follow-up, the child manifested developmental delay and central hypoventilation syndrome during sleep. The ventilation abnormality during sleep with insensitivity to hypercapnia, associated with unilateral facial paralysis, indicates a pontine lesion, including the parafacial respiratory group.