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Abstract
Objectives To highlight the slow-wave sleep (SWS) fragmentation and validate the video-polysomnographic (vPSG) criteria and cutoffs for the diagnosis of disorders of arousal (DOA) in children, as already reported in adults.
Methods One hundred children (66 boys, 11.0 ± 3.3 years) with frequent episodes of DOA and 50 nonparasomniac children (32 boys, 10.9 ± 3.9 years) underwent vPSG recording to quantify SWS characteristics (number of N3 sleep interruptions, fragmentation index, slow/mixed and fast arousal ratios, and indexes per hour) and associated behaviors. We compared SWS characteristics in the 2 groups and defined the optimal cutoff values for the diagnosis of DOA using receiver operating characteristic curves.
Results Patients with DOA had higher amounts of N3 and REM sleep, number of N3 interruptions, SWS fragmentation, and slow/mixed arousal indexes than controls. The highest area under the curve (AUC) values were obtained for SWS fragmentation and slow/mixed arousal indexes with satisfactory classification performances (AUC 0.80, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.73–0.87; AUC 0.82, 95% CI 0.75–0.89). SWS fragmentation index cutoff value of 4.1/h reached a sensitivity of 65.0% and a specificity of 84.0%. Slow/mixed arousal index cutoff of 3.8/h reached a sensitivity of 69.0% and a specificity of 82.0%. At least one parasomniac episode was recorded in 63.0% of patients and none of the controls. Combining behavioral component by vPSG increased sensitivity of both biomarkers to 83% and 89%, respectively.
Conclusions We confirmed that SWS fragmentation and slow/mixed arousal indexes are 2 relevant biomarkers for the diagnosis of DOA in children, with different cutoffs obtained than those validated in adults.
Classification of Evidence This study provides Class III evidence that SWS fragmentation and slow/mixed arousal indexes on vPSG accurately identify children with DOA.
Glossary
- AHI=
- Apnea Hypopnea Index;
- AUC=
- area under the curve;
- CA=
- confusional arousal;
- CAP=
- cyclic alternating pattern;
- CI=
- confidence interval;
- DOA=
- disorder of arousal;
- NREM=
- non-REM;
- PLMS=
- periodic limb movements during sleep;
- PSG=
- polysomnographic;
- ROC=
- receiver operating characteristic;
- ST=
- sleep terror;
- SWS=
- slow-wave sleep;
- SWSFI=
- slow-wave sleep fragmentation index;
- vPSG=
- video-PSG
Footnotes
Go to Neurology.org/N for full disclosures. Funding information and disclosures deemed relevant by the authors, if any, are provided at the end of the article.
Class of Evidence: NPub.org/coe
- Received April 16, 2020.
- Accepted in final form August 12, 2020.
- © 2020 American Academy of Neurology
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