Inflammatory Markers in Infants With Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) is a common disorder in children (2-3%). OSAS in turn, is associated with significant behavioral, learning, and heart problems. Adenotonsillectomy (T&A, meaning the removal of tonsils and adenoids) is the most common treatment for the problem .Diagnosis of OSAS in children is based on overnight polysomnography (sleep study). Recent studies suggest that upper airway and systemic inflammatory changes exists in school-age children and adults with OSAS, and that anti inflammatory therapy can improve respiratory parameters during sleep and reduce adenoid size, similar to surgery. However, there are no data in the literature on inflammatory changes in infants with the disorder.

Healthcare resources utilization, a sensitive marker for diseases is consumed by young children (<3y) with OSAS more then healthy children, from their first year of life We hypothesize that infants and young children with OSAS present local inflammatory changes of the airways as well as systemic inflammation (in the blood or urine) that contribute to the learning, growing and heart associated medical problems. The Aims of the present study are to characterize the local and systemic inflammatory changes of young children with OSAS, and to evaluate their associated medical problems at diagnosis and after therapy (T&A) If indeed inflammation is "responsible" for the development of OSAS at such a young age it should be reduced following therapy (i.e. T&A). In such a case bio-markers may become a part of the algorithms for diagnosis and follow up of such patients.