Sleep disordered breathing in children with neuromuscular disease
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Inflammation in children with sleep disordered breathing secondary to neuromuscular disease
IRAS ID
187418
Contact name
Hui-leng Tan
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Royal Brompton Hospital
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
Children with neuromuscular disease (NMD) are at risk of developing sleep disordered breathing (SDB) because of their muscle weakness. The treatment for this is non-invasive ventilation (NIV). However, currently, there is no international consensus as to when NIV should be started. There is a spectrum of severity of SDB: some children just have a slight increase in the number of dips in their oxygen levels; some have dips in oxygen levels and rises in carbon dioxide levels just during dream sleep (REM sleep); some children under breathe and have high carbon dioxide (waste gas) levels the whole night.
We know very little about the effects of sleep disordered breathing in children with neuromuscular disease. Research in healthy children with obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) has shown that OSA can result in inflammation in the blood and airways. This inflammation is thought to be due to the dips in oxygen levels and rises in carbon dioxide seen in OSA. As NMD children with SDB also have similar gas exchange changes, could the SDB be causing inflammation as well? If so, at what severity of SDB is inflammation seen? This may provide valuable information on when NIV should be started.
REC name
London - Brent Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/LO/1883
Date of REC Opinion
19 Oct 2015
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion