Frequent hypoxemia found in infants with bronchopulmonary dysplasia after weaning home oxygen.

Abstract

Parental reports and brief clinical examinations are the primary information used to assist clinicians in weaning home supplemental oxygen in infants with bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). Recorded nocturnal oximetry provides an objective assessment of hypoxemia; however, it is unknown if it identifies clinically undetected hypoxemia in the home setting. Our objective was to determine if nocturnal oximetry can identify unreported hypoxemia in infants with BPD who appear ready to wean from supplemental oxygen. We conducted a retrospective chart review of infants born <32 weeks gestation with BPD who were discharged to home receiving supplemental oxygen and completed recorded nocturnal oximetry in room air during an 18-month period. Abnormal oximetry was defined as >5 min with SpO2 < 90% and/or an oxyhemoglobin desaturation index (ODI4) >5. Comparative analysis of patients with normal and abnormal overnight oximetry was performed using Fisher Exact and Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Thirty-five former premature infants completed nocturnal oximetry at 5.8 (3.4-8.3) months corrected age. Nocturnal oximetry was abnormal as defined in 67% of the cohort (n = 21). Five percent of patients were hypoxemic, 52% had frequent desaturation events, and 43% had both. No significant differences existed in neonatal characteristics between patients with normal and abnormal studies. Nocturnal oximetry was abnormal in the majority of infants with BPD who were otherwise clinically ready to wean from oxygen support, suggesting that recorded home oximetry could be a feasible and useful tool to evaluate for otherwise clinically unapparent nocturnal hypoxemia in patients with BPD.